Northern Trust Corp Decreases Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its position in The Progressive Corporation by 0.1%, selling 6,794 shares and now holds over 6.17 million shares, valued at around $1.75 billion.
• Progressive reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $4.88, exceeding analyst expectations of $4.43, while revenue was $20.08 billion, slightly below estimates.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share will be paid to stockholders on October 10th, reflecting a low dividend yield of 0.2% and a payout ratio of 2.25%.

Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,172,735 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 6,794 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.05% of Progressive worth $1,746,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.0% during the 1st 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 grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 2.1% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $247.02 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $144.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $228.54 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $253.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $266.51.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total value of $7,423,399.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 112,313 shares of company stock worth $28,349,549. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Barclays dropped their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Citigroup began coverage on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $312.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $284.88.

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.

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