Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 76,982 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Royal London Asset Management reduced its Progressive stake by 9.9%, selling 76,982 shares and retaining 702,739 shares valued at approximately $153.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of the insurer.
• Progressive reported quarterly EPS of $5.67, beating estimates by $1.03, while revenue reached $23.61 billion and rose 5% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10, or $0.40 annualized, yielding 0.2%. Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $236.26.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 9.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 702,739 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 76,982 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.12% of Progressive worth $153,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 235.1% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Progressive during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $218.90 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $249.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $127.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.40 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $769,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at $9,370,900. The trade was a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.26.

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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