Yousif Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 1.8%, bringing its total shares to 73,655, valued at approximately $19.7 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Progressive, with Nuveen LLC acquiring a new stake worth over $1.4 billion in the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Progressive, with company shares currently holding an average target price of $279.63 and a consensus rating of "Hold", despite a recent earnings report that exceeded estimates.

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,655 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,372 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $19,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares in the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S grew its holdings in Progressive by 12,110.3% during the 1st quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $353,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,402 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Progressive by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,338,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $194,557,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Barclays set a $271.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $279.63.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $536,977.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 43,506 shares in the company, valued at $10,532,802.60. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $325,624.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,356,934.80. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,045 shares of company stock worth $31,997,390 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE PGR opened at $240.18 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $228.54 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $245.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.25%.

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.

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