The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Confluence Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 1.1%, now owning 561,616 shares valued at approximately $149.87 million, which is 2.1% of its portfolio.
• Insider transactions showed significant sell-offs, with two executives selling a combined total of over $3.5 million in shares recently.
• Analysts maintain a mixed outlook on Progressive, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $284.82, reflecting a confidence in the company's growth potential.

Confluence Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 561,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 6,424 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for approximately 2.1% of Confluence Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Progressive worth $149,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.0% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 210.0% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $284.82.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $2.83 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $245.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,944,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,367,657. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $143.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.32. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $246.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $264.32.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were 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 directly owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total transaction of $1,509,141.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,742,703.04. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 139,010 shares of company stock valued at $34,547,699. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Progressive

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.