Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Sells 14,269 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Osterweis Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 9.8%, selling 14,269 shares to own 130,747 shares valued at $37 million.
• Progressive reported $4.88 earnings per share for the last quarter, beating estimates by $0.45, and had a revenue of $20.08 billion, though short of analyst expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share payable on October 10, representing an annual yield of 0.2%.

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 9.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,747 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 14,269 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for approximately 0.0% of Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $37,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 58,215 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $16,475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 78.8% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 143 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $113,456,000. Intrua Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $248.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $246.68 and a 200 day moving average of $264.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors 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 2.25%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.96, for a total transaction of $1,557,750.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 21,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,402,135.52. This trade represents a 22.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,010 shares of company stock valued at $34,547,699 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI lowered Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.82.

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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