John P. Sauerland Sells 1,542 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock traded down $5.59 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $285.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,172,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,387,392. The firm has a market cap of $167.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $294.22. The business’s 50-day moving average is $259.18 and its 200 day moving average is $254.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.76.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Mount Lucas Management LP grew its position in Progressive by 2.4% in the third quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 2,493 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth about $337,000. Claro Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 117.2% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 139,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,471,000 after buying an additional 29,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank bought a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.