The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Insider Sells $2,259,100.00 in Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) insider John Jo Murphy sold 9,512 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.50, for a total value of $2,259,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,787 shares in the company, valued at $10,874,412.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $235.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $138.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $214.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.50. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $129.31 and a 1 year high of $238.45.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. Progressive’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 11.8% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 455 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 10.4% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.2% during the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, City State Bank boosted its position in Progressive by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. City State Bank now owns 661 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PGR. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.41.

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.