Farmers Trust Co. Lowers Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Farmers Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,621 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 113 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,628,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $3,090,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 66.4% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in Progressive by 90.4% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 21,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,890,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $252.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.58. The company has a market capitalization of $147.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $138.69 and a twelve month high of $260.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,512 shares of company stock valued at $33,912,874 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.18.

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.