Groupe la Francaise Decreases Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Groupe la Francaise trimmed its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 95.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,341 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 27,187 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Progressive were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth $26,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 235.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total value of $1,535,979.31. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Susan Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.50, for a total transaction of $8,195,691.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 485,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,553,641. This represents a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold 113,714 shares of company stock valued at $24,466,294 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Mizuho set a $236.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.26.

Progressive Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $214.67 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $217.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $249.71. The firm has a market cap of $124.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation, founded in 1937 and headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio, is an insurance company that primarily serves customers in the United States. The company is best known for its personal and commercial auto insurance businesses and distributes products through independent agents, direct channels and digital platforms.

Progressive offers a broad range of insurance products, including coverage for automobiles, motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles, homes and renters.