Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 878,084 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 69.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 389,312 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 878,084 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Progressive were worth $77,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. 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 valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was 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 represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 directly owned 22,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,877,376.18. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 15,230 shares of company stock valued at $3,165,817 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.05.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $207.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $120.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.86. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $254.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.32.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.