The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO Sells $2,386,600.00 in Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $240.65 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.85. 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 stock has a market cap of $140.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $161.56 and a 12-month high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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, January 9th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. TD Cowen raised their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.65.

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.