Midwest Trust Co Sells 6,073 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Midwest Trust Co reduced its stake in Progressive by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,073 shares and leaving it with 33,010 shares valued at about $7.5 million.
• Progressive reported Q1 earnings of $4.80 per share, beating analyst expectations, though revenue came in below estimates at $22.19 billion.
• The stock was trading near $193.85, close to its 52-week low, while analysts currently rate it a Hold overall with a consensus target price of $238.39.

Midwest Trust Co lessened its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,010 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 6,073 shares during the quarter. Midwest Trust Co's holdings in Progressive were worth $7,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 106.6% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in Progressive by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co raised its position in shares of Progressive by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 162 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 833.3% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 168 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $193.85 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $191.75 and a 52 week high of $289.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $202.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued 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 was Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm'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 in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.39.

Progressive Company 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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