John P. Sauerland Sells 10,000 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $283.09 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $251.93 and a 200-day moving average of $251.90. The company has a market capitalization of $165.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $189.40 and a 52 week high of $287.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.59.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Progressive by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Progressive by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Company 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.