Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 2,742 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,742 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $27,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Progressive by 30.2% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,381,000 after buying an additional 23,833 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1,614.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 21,598 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,334,000 after acquiring an additional 20,338 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 87,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 91.7% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,710 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Progressive by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 16,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,865 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total transaction of $336,973.15. Following the sale, the insider owned 39,626 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,573.10. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,323,176.42. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,443 shares of company stock valued at $2,723,061. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on PGR shares. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $216.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $227.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $250.35.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $204.43 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 7.16 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $197.92 and a 52-week high of $292.99.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.08%.

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.