Heartland Bank & Trust Co Has $711,000 Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Heartland Bank & Trust Co reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,665 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Progressive were worth $711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 210.0% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $252.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $279.63.

Progressive Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $236.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $228.54 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $245.09 and its 200-day moving average is $259.24.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $4,153,335.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 130,045 shares of company stock worth $31,997,390. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.