John P. Sauerland Sells 10,000 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $239.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $159.34 and a 52 week high of $270.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $251.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.85.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.65.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Sachetta LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.0% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.