Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Director Jeffrey Kelly Sells 7,000 Shares of Stock

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Director Jeffrey Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Progressive Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE:PGR opened at $215.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $126.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.76. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $267.92.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.08 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 7,463 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,267,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $237.58.

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.