Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 448 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 210.0% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Progressive during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in Progressive during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 6,350.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $274.46.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $325,624.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,356,934.80. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total value of $1,555,052.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,806.24. This trade represents a 29.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 128,778 shares of company stock worth $31,683,756. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $225.57 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $217.20 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $243.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.90.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.19%.

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.