Nuveen LLC Cuts Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Nuveen LLC cut its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 33.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,368,529 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,688,787 shares during the quarter. Nuveen LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $767,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in Progressive by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 7.8% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $609,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 12.0% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $202.41 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $199.01 and a 200 day moving average of $208.09. The stock has a market cap of $118.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $269.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PGR. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective 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 research report on Thursday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.11.

About Progressive

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.