Two Sigma Securities LLC Sells 9,808 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Two Sigma Securities LLC reduced its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 75.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 9,808 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,267,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $981,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Progressive by 1.4% in the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PGR. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $228.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $225.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.26.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total value of $268,765.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,257 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,785.80. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 83,449 shares of company stock worth $17,685,203. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $220.36 on Wednesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $249.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $217.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.01%.

Progressive Company 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.