Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Lowers Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lessened its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 137,804 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,823 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up 2.4% of Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $34,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,751,851 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,703,318,000 after acquiring an additional 285,070 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,018,592,000 after purchasing an additional 670,006 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,022,507,000 after purchasing an additional 92,212 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,392,773 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $497,003,000 after purchasing an additional 69,709 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.8% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,698,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $351,289,000 after purchasing an additional 244,541 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $255.37 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $149.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $247.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.57. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.14 and a fifty-two week high of $260.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,247.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 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 $9,281,827.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $850,689.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,247.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 144,383 shares of company stock worth $33,446,453. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. HSBC upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.19.

Progressive 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.