Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 76,982 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lowered its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 702,739 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 76,982 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $153,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $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 $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 7.8% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 12.0% during the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE PGR opened at $218.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $217.19 and its 200 day moving average is $207.23. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $189.20 and a twelve month high of $249.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 83,449 shares of company stock worth $17,685,203 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% 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.