Bonness Enterprises Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Bonness Enterprises Inc. lowered its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 517,457 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 47.8% of Bonness Enterprises Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Bonness Enterprises Inc. owned 0.09% of Progressive worth $146,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 119.0% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 138 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4%

PGR traded down $1.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $279.19. The company had a trading volume of 2,442,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,654,031. The company has a market capitalization of $163.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $276.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $264.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,084.80. The trade was a 4.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,755 shares of company stock valued at $10,367,074. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.59.

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.