Wesbanco Bank Inc. Sells 3,180 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Wesbanco Bank Inc. reduced its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 16.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,711 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,180 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $224.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $201.86 and a 200-day moving average of $206.89. The firm has a market cap of $130.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39, a P/E/G ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $267.92.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.Progressive’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.08 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 22,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,877,376.18. This trade represents a 23.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock valued at $3,165,817. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. Argus raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $237.58.

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.