PB Investment Partners L.P. Sells 16,421 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

PB Investment Partners L.P. reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 70.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 16,421 shares during the period. Progressive comprises 1.0% of PB Investment Partners L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. PB Investment Partners L.P.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Seven Mile Advisory increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,531 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $689,000. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 58,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,423,000 after buying an additional 1,852 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 698,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $158,971,000 after buying an additional 53,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $502,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.11.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $231,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,733,600. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.1%

PGR stock opened at $202.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $269.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $199.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.93. The firm has a market cap of $118.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.