Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Trims Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lessened its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 31.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 20,786 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $9,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 858.3% during the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,870,000 after purchasing an additional 48,666 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 6.4% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,784,205 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,482,010,000 after buying an additional 410,326 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in Progressive by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 29,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,351,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.5% in the second quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 17,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan grew its holdings in Progressive by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 79,072 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,273,000 after acquiring an additional 4,103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $228.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.26.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $221.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $217.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.58. The stock has a market cap of $128.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $249.83.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total transaction of $268,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,857,785.80. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $769,780.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 42,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,370,900. This represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 120,787 shares of company stock valued at $25,880,894 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.