Clearbridge Investments LLC Decreases Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 21.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,206,068 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 327,070 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.21% of Progressive worth $249,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $568,000. Invesco LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 4,058 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 52,969 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,955,000 after purchasing an additional 5,557 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $236,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 216.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 639 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of PGR stock traded down $0.39 on Tuesday, hitting $215.91. The stock had a trading volume of 3,085,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,604,933. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $210.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.45. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $121.87 and a 1 year high of $229.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total value of $466,421.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 974 shares in the company, valued at $213,383.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total value of $466,421.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,383.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of Progressive 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,647 shares of company stock worth $7,417,765 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.94.

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.