Bailard Inc. Trims Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Bailard Inc. trimmed its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,829 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,408 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. City State Bank increased its stake in Progressive by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. City State Bank now owns 661 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 4.0% during the second quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 2.6% during the second quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,047 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 4.4% during the second quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.2% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,640 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PGR. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.41.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $242.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $130.27 and a 1-year high of $245.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $218.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.97.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.16 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 6,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.19, for a total transaction of $1,439,833.18. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,600,400.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 6,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.19, for a total transaction of $1,439,833.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,600,400.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $850,689.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,015,247.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,441 shares of company stock valued at $25,111,350 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Progressive

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.