Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Trims Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 16.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 10,465 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $14,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Progressive by 128.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,452,000 after buying an additional 6,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth $247,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total value of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,323,176.42. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,673 shares of company stock worth $4,163,005. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE:PGR opened at $234.61 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.36. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $199.90 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a fifty day moving average of $224.07 and a 200 day moving average of $242.48.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PGR. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Progressive from $350.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $246.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. HSBC set a $259.00 target price on Progressive and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $312.00 to $301.38 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $266.40.

About Progressive

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.