Progressive (NYSE:PGR) CEO Sells $8,195,691.00 in Stock

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) CEO Susan Griffith sold 37,338 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.50, for a total value of $8,195,691.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 485,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,553,641. This trade represents a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Susan Patricia Griffith also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, July 27th, Susan Griffith sold 37,338 shares of Progressive stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $7,942,165.98.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $218.41 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $249.71. The company has a market cap of $126.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.79.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Progressive by 23,059.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 199,767,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,639,163,000 after buying an additional 198,904,705 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,496,271,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,682,342,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $1,836,094,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,538,570,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Progressive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.26.

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.