Karen Bailo Sells 8,452 Shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock

Key Points

• Progressive insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares for approximately $1.8 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing her position by 20.72% to 32,348 shares.
• Progressive shares traded at $219.97, giving the insurer a market capitalization of about $128.5 billion. The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, equivalent to a 0.2% annual yield.
• Institutional investors own 85.34% of Progressive, while analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $236.11.

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider 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 sale 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.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $4.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $219.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,478,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,294,427. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $128.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.26. The business's 50 day moving average price is $210.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.89. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $254.93.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were 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%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $1,836,094,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 181.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,481,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,197,212 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 19,724.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,068,876 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $806,614,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048,351 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,906,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Progressive by 193.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,206,742 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $502,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.11.

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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