Clearbridge Investments LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 22.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 936,539 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 269,529 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.16% of Progressive worth $194,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,751,851 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,703,318,000 after acquiring an additional 285,070 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,018,592,000 after purchasing an additional 670,006 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,022,507,000 after purchasing an additional 92,212 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Progressive by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,885,731 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $778,199,000 after buying an additional 19,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,577,731 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $569,861,000 after buying an additional 86,686 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 0.2 %

PGR opened at $254.37 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $137.59 and a 12 month high of $260.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $239.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 146,512 shares of company stock valued at $33,912,874. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.18.

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.