John P. Sauerland Sells 1,542 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Progressive Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $282.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $259.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $254.57. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $165.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mount Lucas Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.4% in the third quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 2,493 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $633,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $337,000. Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 117.2% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Progressive by 26.2% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 139,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,471,000 after purchasing an additional 29,050 shares during the period. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank acquired a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $203,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.76.

About Progressive

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.