Martingale Asset Management L P Lowers Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Martingale Asset Management L P decreased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 100,458 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,722 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Progressive were worth $28,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 114.0% during the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 210.0% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:PGR opened at $252.2440 on Thursday. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $228.54 and a one year high of $292.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Bank of America reduced their target price on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI downgraded Progressive from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.53.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,191 shares of the business’s 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 $795,324.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 37,977 shares in the company, valued at $9,465,387.48. The trade was a 7.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,823 shares of company stock valued at $27,658,151 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.