Lion Street Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Lion Street Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,675 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 349 shares during the quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $306,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $439,000. Belmont Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $580,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 87.9% in the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 414,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $117,218,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:PGR opened at $240.18 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $259.54.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were 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 was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.25%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $4,153,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 130,045 shares of company stock worth $31,997,390 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays set a $271.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Progressive in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Progressive from $343.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $279.63.

Progressive 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.