Sepio Capital LP Sells 2,386 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Sepio Capital LP reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation shares by 15.3%, now owning 13,226 shares valued at approximately $3.74 million.
• Insider sales were significant with Steven Broz and Patrick K. Callahan selling 1,345 and 6,232 shares respectively, indicating a 4% to 22% decrease in their holdings.
• Progressive has received mixed analyst ratings, with an average price target of $284.18 and declarations of a quarterly dividend payout of $0.10 per share set for October 10th.

Sepio Capital LP cut its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 15.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,226 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,386 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP's holdings in Progressive were worth $3,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 210.0% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $248.68. 946,918 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,177,314. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.12. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $228.54 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current 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 1.41 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total transaction of $7,543,953.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at $117,194,933.16. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Evercore ISI downgraded Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.82.

Progressive 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.