The Progressive Corporation $PGR Stock Holdings Reduced by Bonness Enterprises Inc.

Bonness Enterprises Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 512,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises 41.5% of Bonness Enterprises Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Bonness Enterprises Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $126,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 900.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 6,350.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $253.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Progressive from $276.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $264.98.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total transaction of $302,131.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at $5,924,379.20. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at $50,956,523.52. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $227.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $133.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $222.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.72.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.19%.

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.