Insider Selling: The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Insider Sells 8,063 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Lori A. Niederst, an insider at The Progressive Corporation, sold 8,063 shares at an average price of $250.18, resulting in a total transaction of over $2 million, and reducing their ownership by 17.12%.
• Progressive's stock has seen a decline of 1.1%, trading at $248.14, with analysts predicting an earnings per share (EPS) of 14.68 for the current fiscal year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.2%, with a dividend payout ratio of only 2.25%.

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Progressive Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of PGR traded down $2.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $248.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,172,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,248,033. The company has a fifty day moving average of $253.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.24. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $228.54 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $145.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at $2,156,939,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth about $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 61.4% in 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 39,285.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $862,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Progressive by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,928,141,000 after acquiring an additional 2,709,417 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.06.

Progressive Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.