Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 0.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 125,793 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Progressive were worth $33,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Progressive by 6,350.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 1,885.7% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $262.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $268.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total transaction of $7,543,953.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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 directly owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 58,500 shares of company stock valued at $14,430,089. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $206.71 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $206.41 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $237.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.34, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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