Range Financial Group LLC Sells 9,282 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Range Financial Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 86.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 9,282 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 1,885.7% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $228.31 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $222.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.36. 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 Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $199.90 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company posted $3.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.19%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at $50,956,523.52. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,323,176.42. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Zacks Research lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $264.98.

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.