Congress Asset Management Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,785 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 114.0% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 210.0% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the sale, the insider owned 32,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. This represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,045 shares of company stock valued at $34,635,290 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $243.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $245.34 and a 200 day moving average of $262.03. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $228.54 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $142.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $347.00 to $343.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $279.31.

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.