Perpetual Ltd Reduces Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Perpetual Ltd lessened its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 99.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,565 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 339,465 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth about $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 valued at $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.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total value of $307,050.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,323,176.42. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 7,690 shares of company stock worth $1,745,350 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $224.30 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $222.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.54. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.19%.

Key Stores Impacting Progressive

Here are the key news stories impacting Progressive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on PGR to $250 and kept a “market perform” rating — a modest vote of confidence that implies upside from current levels. KBW price target raise
• Neutral Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets trimmed its target slightly (from $256 to $253) but maintained a “market perform” view; the change is small and keeps implied upside intact. BMO target change
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage consensus remains around “Hold” for PGR, per a recent aggregation — this keeps expectations cautious rather than bullish. Brokerage consensus
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention to PGR is high (search and site-traffic notes), which can amplify moves but doesn’t by itself change fundamentals. Investor interest
• Neutral Sentiment: Some headlines discuss dividend implications and a sector downgrade that could alter the investment case — watch for follow-up on capital return policy and whether downgrades spread across insurers. Dividend/sector piece
• Neutral Sentiment: Be aware of name confusion in newsfeeds: unrelated companies (e.g., a drug approval for “JASCAYD” and results from “Progressive Planet”) reference “Progressive” but do not affect PGR’s insurance business. JASCAYD approval (unrelated) Progressive Planet (unrelated)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst skepticism: Morgan Stanley (and commentary aggregated on TipRanks) reiterated concerns — citing decelerating growth, rising competition and smaller buybacks — and kept a Sell stance, which likely weighs on sentiment and downside risk. Morgan Stanley sell thesis
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage notes PGR shares slipped despite a stronger market — short-term technical/flow factors and the negative analyst narrative are contributing to the decline. Price drop article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 1st. HSBC set a $259.00 price objective on Progressive and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $264.68.

Progressive 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.