Wright Investors Service Inc. Decreases Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 33,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,086 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for 1.5% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 109.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 143.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the first quarter worth $31,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Progressive in the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the third quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR traded up $0.25 on Thursday, hitting $209.37. 680,021 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,577,889. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.33. The firm has a market cap of $122.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $111.41 and a one year high of $212.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, April 1st. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

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.