Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Decreases Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC significantly reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 68.4% during the first quarter, now holding shares valued at approximately $1.46 million.
• Analyst ratings for Progressive vary, with nine analysts issuing a Buy rating and a consensus target price of $284.18, as well as recent downgrades in the ratings from firms like Evercore ISI and UBS Group.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, highlighting a 0.2% dividend yield with plans to pay it on October 10th.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 68.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,158 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 11,143 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $1,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 81.5% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 7,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,037,000 after acquiring an additional 3,232 shares during the last quarter. Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $798,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Progressive by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 36,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $10,444,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Down 0.2%

Progressive stock traded down $0.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $248.29. 2,612,107 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,408,336. The company's 50-day moving average is $246.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $228.54 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $145.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 1.44 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.82.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total value of $1,509,141.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,742,703.04. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,010 shares of company stock valued at $34,547,699 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.