Progressive (NYSE:PGR) CFO John Sauerland Sells 5,000 Shares

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) CFO John Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Progressive Stock Down 0.5%

Progressive stock traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $227.70. 3,468,678 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,270,468. The company has a market cap of $133.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $199.90 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $227.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.58 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Cambria Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in Progressive by 8.4% in the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 7,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Progressive by 2,012.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 767,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,546,000 after buying an additional 731,207 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the third quarter worth $19,972,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in Progressive by 4.3% in the third quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 25,918 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,400,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth about $247,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Progressive from $351.00 to $346.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $266.52.

About Progressive

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.