The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,353 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $6,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 87,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 40.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 16,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,159,000 after buying an additional 4,865 shares in the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP raised its position in Progressive by 199.0% in the second quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 9,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,511,000 after acquiring an additional 6,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 91.7% in the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,710 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total transaction of $302,131.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at $5,924,379.20. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Progressive in a research report on Monday, December 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $242.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $265.09.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $212.52 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $222.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.88. The firm has a market cap of $124.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.19%.

Progressive Company Profile

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.