Dudley & Shanley Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Dudley & Shanley Inc. reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 23.9% during the second quarter, now holding a total of 64,255 shares valued at approximately $17.15 million.
• Progressive posted a strong earnings report with $4.88 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.45.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.10 on October 10th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.2%.

Dudley & Shanley Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 23.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,255 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 20,225 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises approximately 2.7% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Dudley & Shanley Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $17,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in Progressive by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.0% in the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 2.0% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Group raised its position 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 valued at $1,036,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PGR. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, August 29th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $265.00 target price (down from $327.00) on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $279.44.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $0.26 on Friday, reaching $242.26. The stock had a trading volume of 4,778,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,433,152. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The business's 50-day moving average price is $245.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.47. The stock has a market cap of $142.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total value of $556,230.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 45,724 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,466,664.72. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $337,299.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,733 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,958,001.74. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 130,062 shares of company stock valued at $32,217,635 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.