Venture Visionary Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Venture Visionary Partners LLC lowered its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,874 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 106.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $203.40 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $199.37 and a 200 day moving average of $207.77. The stock has a market cap of $118.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $269.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Profile

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.