Vestor Capital LLC Trims Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Vestor Capital LLC lessened its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 95.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 280 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,356 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $56,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Western Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 17.0% during the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,590 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,505,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its position in Progressive by 23.9% in the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 45,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,035,000 after acquiring an additional 8,782 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,771 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Bull Harbor Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $360,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Advisors MI bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $121,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $476,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,583,637.50. This trade represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 74,885 shares of company stock valued at $15,880,459. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $211.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $254.93. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $211.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.05. The company has a market capitalization of $123.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.26.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Progressive from $217.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. HSBC upped their price target on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.11.

About Progressive

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.