SteelPeak Wealth LLC Sells 7,706 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 88.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,706 shares during the quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Progressive by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 24,117 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,841,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 210,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,522,000 after acquiring an additional 4,443 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 643 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 53,147 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,466,000 after purchasing an additional 4,127 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $2.42 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $236.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,898,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,570,617. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $213.21 and a 200 day moving average of $205.50. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $129.31 and a twelve month high of $238.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total transaction of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares in the company, valued at $63,978,003.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 100,807 shares of company stock valued at $21,412,417. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.41.

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.