Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 125,101 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,328,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,496,271,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,836,094,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,098,838,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Progressive by 181.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,481,615,000 after acquiring an additional 4,197,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 19,724.0% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,068,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $806,614,000 after acquiring an additional 4,048,351 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $220.60 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $252.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.55 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $476,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,637.50. This trade represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 82,224 shares of company stock worth $17,416,438 in the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Progressive News

Here are the key news stories impacting Progressive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded PGR to “outperform” from “market perform” and raised its price target to $250 from $226, implying meaningful upside from recent trading levels. KBW upgrades Progressive
• Positive Sentiment: July operating growth remained solid: net premiums written and earned both rose 5% year over year, while total policies in force increased 7% to 40.3 million. Personal auto policies were particularly strong, with direct auto policies up 9%. Progressive July 2026 results
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed. Wells Fargo raised its price target modestly to $201 from $198 but retained an “underweight” rating, while William Blair maintained a “hold” stance, citing earnings deceleration and slower growth. Wells Fargo rating update
• Negative Sentiment: July earnings weakened despite premium growth. Net income fell 12% to $961 million and earnings per share declined 11% to $1.65. The combined ratio worsened to 86.8 from 85.3, indicating lower underwriting profitability, while realized securities results swung to a $47 million loss from a $79 million gain. Progressive July earnings analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity may weigh on sentiment: available data showed multiple company insiders selling shares over the past six months and no reported insider purchases.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $228.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $226.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.05.

About Progressive

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.