Insider Selling: Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Insider Sells 1,345 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Steven Broz, an insider at Progressive Corporation, sold 1,345 shares of the company's stock on August 22nd for approximately $337,299, representing a 4.07% decline in his ownership.
traded down 1.8% to $244.60, with a market cap of $143.39 billion and price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with a scheduled payment date of October 10th, reflecting a 0.2% dividend yield.

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $337,299.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,958,001.74. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Steven Broz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, July 18th, Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of Progressive stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.54, for a total transaction of $313,633.18.
• On Friday, June 20th, Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of Progressive stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total transaction of $329,901.46.

Progressive Trading Down 1.8%

PGR traded down $4.61 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $244.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,064,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,233,240. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $251.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $228.54 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.18.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,893,000 after purchasing an additional 33,864 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its position in Progressive by 498.5% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,141,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 12,034 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,406,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% 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.

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