Central Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Central Bank & Trust Co. lessened its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,564 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,562 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 235.1% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 700.0% during the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total transaction of $1,727,974.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,291 shares in the company, valued at $8,782,595.70. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $769,780.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,370,900. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 74,885 shares of company stock worth $15,880,459. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $209.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $214.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.47. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $189.20 and a twelve month high of $254.93. The company has a market capitalization of $121.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.00.

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.