The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 703,819 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 58,360 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.12% of Progressive worth $194,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth about $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $253.38. 451,553 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,177,376. The stock has a market cap of $148.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $273.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $265.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $207.50 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total transaction of $691,398.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. This trade represents a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $1,041,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,750,829.82. The trade was a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Progressive from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday. UBS Group increased their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.94.

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.