Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Trims Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services LLC significantly reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation, cutting its holdings by 61.9% during the second quarter, bringing its total shares to 658.
• Progressive's most recent earnings report beat analysts' expectations with $4.88 EPS, but the firm's revenue fell short of estimates at $20.08 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.2%, with the payment date set for October 10th.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 658 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,069 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 108.0% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,382 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $243.07 on Thursday. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $245.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $260.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $142.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. This trade represents a 21.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 130,045 shares of company stock valued at $31,997,390 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, August 29th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $265.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays set a $271.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $278.63.

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.

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