Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $196.38 and last traded at $198.3070, with a volume of 489604 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $201.39.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PGR. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $259.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.22.

Progressive Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $115.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $205.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 3,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total value of $634,506.75. Following the transaction, the executive owned 26,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,363,983.15. This represents a 10.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,687 shares of company stock worth $2,413,044. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stance Capital LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 6,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after buying an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Progressive by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 10,609 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the period. Demming Financial Services Corp ADV bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $598,000. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $2,403,000. Finally, Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $500,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.