Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Insider Steven Broz Sells 1,157 Shares

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $231,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 28,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,733,600. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $2.53 on Monday, hitting $201.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 939,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,213,677. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $198.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.75. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $278.71. The company has a market capitalization of $117.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Progressive by 78.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 181.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,481,615,000 after buying an additional 4,197,212 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 19,724.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,068,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $806,614,000 after acquiring an additional 4,048,351 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.