Insider Selling: The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) CFO Sells 16,664 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• John P. Sauerland, CFO of The Progressive Corporation, sold 16,664 shares at an average price of $249.24, totaling about $4.15 million, resulting in a 6.81% decrease in his holdings.
• The company reported $4.88 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with total revenue of $20.08 billion, up 12.1% year-over-year.
• Progressive recently announced a dividend of $0.10 per share, yielding 0.15%, with a payout ratio of 2.25%.

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,832,701.76. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Progressive Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:PGR traded down $0.68 on Friday, reaching $241.37. The stock had a trading volume of 916,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,270,034. The company has a market cap of $141.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The firm's fifty day moving average is $260.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.01. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $208.13 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 15.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in Progressive by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,645,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Progressive by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 315,012 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $75,480,000 after buying an additional 140,514 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 4,672 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,119,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $286.88.

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.