Chicago Capital LLC Sells 5,509 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Chicago Capital LLC trimmed its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 1.7% in Q4, selling 5,509 shares and ending the quarter with 310,767 shares worth about $70.8 million, making PGR its 16th-largest holding (≈1.7% of the firm's portfolio).
• Progressive beat EPS in its latest quarter ($4.80 vs. $4.67) but missed revenue expectations ($22.19B vs. $23.51B); the stock carries a consensus "Hold" rating with a $238.39 price target after several analyst target cuts.
• Institutional ownership is high at about 85.34%, while insiders were net sellers last quarter (11,687 shares sold, ~$2.41M), leaving insider ownership around 0.32%.

Chicago Capital LLC lowered its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 310,767 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 5,509 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises approximately 1.7% of Chicago Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Chicago Capital LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Progressive worth $70,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth $25,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 162 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.39.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $202.69 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $203.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $192.02 and a 12-month high of $289.96. The firm has a market cap of $118.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30, a PEG ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,649 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total transaction of $336,973.15. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,097,573.10. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,687 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,044. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.

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