Boston Partners Sells 5,573 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Boston Partners lessened its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 20.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,080 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,573 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Progressive were worth $4,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $316,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 12,144.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 367,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,605,000 after purchasing an additional 364,929 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 157.2% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 3,532 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $272,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 61,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,864,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR traded up $1.66 during trading on Friday, hitting $216.94. 1,769,793 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,572,837. The company has a market capitalization of $127.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $124.06 and a 12-month high of $229.00.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Progressive from $276.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.94.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total transaction of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,978,003.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $527,962.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 24,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,290,327.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total value of $2,546,584.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,978,003.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 108,168 shares of company stock worth $22,937,984. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.