Central Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Central Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 22.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,564 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,562 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Liberty Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth $2,586,000. Citizens & Northern Corp acquired a new position in Progressive during the second quarter valued at $220,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 5.5% in the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 16,667 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,641,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Progressive by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 13,334 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,914,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,548 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,523,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $7,942,165.98. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 522,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,199,682.96. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 74,885 shares of company stock worth $15,880,459. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.00.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $209.48 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $254.93. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $214.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued 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 payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

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.