Dudley & Shanley Inc. Cuts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Dudley & Shanley Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,510 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 21,185 shares during the period. Progressive comprises about 3.4% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $21,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 20.9% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Progressive by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. This represents a 13.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,161 shares of company stock valued at $3,979,549 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.81.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded up $1.04 on Monday, hitting $241.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,813,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,496,530. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $156.06 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $141.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $253.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.18.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

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.