Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Crossmark Global Holdings cut its Progressive stake by 65.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 69,749 shares and ending with 36,933 shares valued at about $8.41 million.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.80 per share versus consensus of $4.67, though revenue of $22.19 billion came in below estimates. Quarterly revenue still rose 6.5% year over year.
• The stock has been under pressure, recently trading at $193.85 near its 52-week low, while analysts currently rate it a Hold on average with a consensus target price of $238.39.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 65.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,933 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 69,749 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 7.8% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 12.0% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $193.85 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $113.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $191.75 and a 12-month high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,857,776. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,062.50. This trade represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.39.

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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