Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 9.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 130,747 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 14,269 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises about 0.0% of Osterweis Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $37,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 114.0% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 210.0% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PGR. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,061,917.04. This trade represents a 21.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at $122,741,523.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of PGR opened at $248.69 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $228.54 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $145.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $246.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.95.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.25%.

About Progressive

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.