The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland Sells 22,708 Shares

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 22,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $4,859,739.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,836,041.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $215.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $126.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $124.06 and a twelve month high of $229.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Progressive from $235.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.94.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,078,831,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 237.8% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,485,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $236,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045,883 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at about $188,642,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 4,545.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 705,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $145,858,000 after acquiring an additional 690,060 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Progressive by 548.2% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 811,653 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $167,866,000 after acquiring an additional 686,433 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Company Profile

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.