The Progressive Corporation $PGR Stock Holdings Lessened by Two Sigma Securities LLC

Key Points

• Two Sigma Securities cut its Progressive holdings by 75.8% in the second quarter, selling 9,808 shares and retaining 3,124 shares valued at approximately $682,000. Institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of Progressive.
• Progressive reported quarterly earnings of $5.67 per share, beating estimates of $4.64, while revenue reached $23.61 billion and increased 5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $236.26; Progressive also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

Two Sigma Securities LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 75.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,124 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 9,808 shares during the period. Two Sigma Securities LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,496,271,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at $2,682,342,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $1,836,094,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,538,570,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,098,838,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,908,847.43. The trade was a 14.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the company'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 value of $7,942,165.98. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 522,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $111,199,682.96. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley raised Progressive from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.26.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $220.36 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $217.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.46. 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 capitalization of $128.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $249.83.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

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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