CENTRAL TRUST Co Boosts Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,749 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,466,781 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,197,629,000 after purchasing an additional 218,809 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Progressive by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,002,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,449 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Progressive by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,935,652 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,378,951,000 after purchasing an additional 520,742 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,078,831,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,982,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $833,410,000 after acquiring an additional 162,916 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Progressive from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.19.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded down $3.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $206.35. 1,684,048 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,570,296. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $217.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $208.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.78. The firm has a market cap of $120.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 11.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total transaction of $1,525,567.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,357,996.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,825 shares of company stock valued at $3,337,741. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive 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.