The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Position Raised by National Bank of Canada FI

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 5.6% during the first quarter, now owning 959,808 shares valued at approximately $271.6 million.
• Insider transactions included the sale of 6,232 shares by Patrick K. Callahan and 16,664 shares by CFO John P. Sauerland, reflecting a decrease in their ownership of 18.29% and 6.81%, respectively.
• Analysts have lowered price targets for Progressive, with UBS Group reducing it from $280.00 to $268.00, while the company's current consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $286.88.

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 959,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 51,044 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.16% of Progressive worth $271,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in Progressive by 1.0% during the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 3.0% during the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 2.0% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group increased its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Progressive by 2.1% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Progressive and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.94.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock traded down $1.68 during trading on Monday, reaching $244.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,523,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,254,482. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $256.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.45. The firm has a market cap of $143.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.33. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $220.33 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $122,741,523.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 27,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,742,703.04. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock worth $26,332,348. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Progressive Company 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.