Phoenix Financial Ltd. Has $11.49 Million Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. reduced its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, now owning approximately $11.49 million worth of shares after selling 1,831 shares.
• Analysts have lowered their target prices for Progressive, with BMO Capital Markets reducing it from $252 to $247, while maintaining a "market perform" rating.
• Progressive recently reported earnings per share of $4.45 for the quarter, falling short of the consensus estimate of $5.04, as the company continues to expand its insurance services.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. lessened its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,042 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,831 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $11,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 338 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GenTrust LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 1,234 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on PGR. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $252.00 to $247.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $214.00 target price on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $270.40.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the business'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 transaction, the insider owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 128,778 shares of company stock worth $31,683,756. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $219.51 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $243.23 and its 200-day moving average is $257.43. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $217.20 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $128.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.19%.

About Progressive

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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