Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 11,246 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC decreased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 232,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,246 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $48,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,534 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $307,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $150,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in Progressive by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 3,517 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total value of $639,920.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at $6,808,963.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total value of $639,920.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total transaction of $2,104,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,742,363.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 146,704 shares of company stock worth $33,367,408. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.5 %

Progressive stock opened at $259.24 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $137.59 and a 12 month high of $260.46. The company has a market capitalization of $151.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

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.