John P. Sauerland Sells 1,542 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,759,663.84. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $274.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $254.84.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. 111 Capital acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,134,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 175,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,136,000 after acquiring an additional 46,915 shares in the last quarter. TFR Capital LLC. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,712,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $118,434,000. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Progressive by 112.0% during the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 34,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,276,000 after acquiring an additional 18,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company 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.