Ellsworth Advisors LLC Sells 103 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 21,639 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 103 shares during the period. Progressive makes up about 1.4% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 4,545.0% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 705,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $145,858,000 after purchasing an additional 690,060 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Progressive by 548.2% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 811,653 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $167,866,000 after buying an additional 686,433 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Progressive by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,018,592,000 after buying an additional 670,006 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at about $116,852,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in Progressive by 457.2% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 651,707 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $135,366,000 after buying an additional 534,754 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $850,689.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,247.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,383 shares of company stock valued at $33,446,453 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $251.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $149.14 and a twelve month high of $260.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $248.22 and a 200 day moving average of $223.76. The stock has a market cap of $147.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.19.

Progressive Company Profile

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.