Waverly Advisors LLC Reduces Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Waverly Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,006 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 31,928 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $6,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,260,000. Allstate Corp grew its stake in Progressive by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $10,136,000 after acquiring an additional 22,915 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,447,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,025,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $226.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Evercore set a $240.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded 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 research note on Friday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $236.26.

Progressive Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $215.90 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $249.71. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $216.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.52 billion, a PE ratio of 10.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total value of $1,535,979.31. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 Progressive 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 113,714 shares of company stock valued at $24,466,294. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation, founded in 1937 and headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio, is an insurance company that primarily serves customers in the United States. The company is best known for its personal and commercial auto insurance businesses and distributes products through independent agents, direct channels and digital platforms.

Progressive offers a broad range of insurance products, including coverage for automobiles, motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles, homes and renters.

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