SteelPeak Wealth LLC Lowers Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 88.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,706 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hilltop National Bank grew its stake in Progressive by 126.0% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth $35,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $2.42 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $236.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,898,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,570,617. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $129.31 and a one year high of $238.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $138.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Progressive from $296.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total value of $2,546,584.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 312,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,978,003.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $850,689.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,015,247.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total transaction of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 312,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,978,003.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 100,807 shares of company stock valued at $21,412,417. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.