Clarius Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Clarius Group LLC cut its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 7.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,777 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its position in Progressive by 1.0% in the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in Progressive by 7.4% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 3.0% in the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Progressive by 2.1% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, True North Advisors LLC grew its position in Progressive by 4.0% in the first quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $246.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $245.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $228.54 and a 12 month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.25%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 130,045 shares of company stock valued at $31,997,390. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PGR. UBS Group decreased their price target on Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Progressive from $343.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $279.63.

Progressive 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.