Ascent Group LLC Sells 3,333 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Ascent Group LLC decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 33,818 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,333 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $9,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 168,400.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,685 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays cut their target price on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets set a $252.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Progressive from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $279.63.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $246.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $144.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $245.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.84. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 130,045 shares of company stock worth $31,997,390. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive 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.