On May 31st, 2023, John P. Sauerland, CFO of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR), sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock at an average price of $127.55 per share, amounting to a total transaction worth $1,530,600. With this sale, Sauerland’s direct ownership in the company has reduced to 333,507 shares, valued at $42,538,817.85 as of June 4th.
This transaction was disclosed by The Progressive Co. in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission and is available on the SEC website for public viewing. Alongside this sale came an announcement of a quarterly dividend by The Progressive Co., which will be paid out to investors on record as of July 7th and will amount to $0.10 per share.
Despite this news from The Progressive Co., shareholders saw their shares trade up during mid-day trading on June 2nd when it reached $128.96 per share – up by $0.63 from its earlier value. Notably so as over 169 thousand shares were exchanged despite an average volume being reported at just under three million shares.
Currently boasting a market capitalization of $75.49 billion and a PE ratio hovering around 91 (meaning investors are paying roughly ninety-one dollars for every dollar earned by the company), The Progressive Co.’s financials have managed to hold steady due to its well-performing segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines and Property.
As one of America’s biggest insurance companies, The Progressive Corp.’s commitment to providing ‘personalized’ insurance products has helped sustain its long standing position within the industry despite changes such as technological advancements highlighting risks previously unforeseen that must be accounted for in their costs.
To conclude; it seems though The Progressive Co.’s vast suite of insurance products has been well received by investors both old and new alike now even offering speciality products. The company’s share price has managed to hold steady despite the market being on edge due to increasingly large amounts of unprecedented events that have transpired within some traditional industries.
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Progressive Corp. experiences changes in equity analysts and institutional investors’ ratings and investments
On June 4, 2023, Progressive Corp., the insurance holding company that provides personal and commercial auto insurance, residential property insurance and other specialty property-casualty insurance, announced that it had experienced some changes in its equity analysts and institutional investors’ opinions.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its price target on Progressive’s shares from $130.00 to $132.00 while giving it a “neutral” rating. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased the target price of the company from $140.00 to $133.00 and gave it a “market perform” rating. Whereas Jefferies Financial Group significantly increased Progressive’s target price from $159.00 to $168.00 and gave the firm a “buy” rating.
Barclays also raised its target price on Progressive’s shares notably from $118.00 to $123.00 in their recent report in May 2023 however Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $124 to $121 earlier this same year.
Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg.com’s data as of June 4th, two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating while seven have given a hold rating, and eight have provided a positive or “buy” rating for Progressive’s stock with an average rating of “Hold.” Also, consensus among equity research analysts is focused on an average projected share value for home services at $148.13 per stock.
Institutional investors also made significant investments into progressive recently which signaled their confidence in the company.
Aspire Private Capital LLC acquired new shares worth approximately $18,597,800,000 during Q1 2023 which represents a notable increase in holdings for the quarter , followed by Minich MacGregor Wealth Management LLC buying new shares worth approximately worth around 26k .
Capital Directions Investment Advisors LLC purchased new holdings worth about $27k also in Q1. Sunbelt Securities also jumped on board purchasing new shares at approximately $31,000 in the same quarter. Finally Exos TFP Holdings LLC had the largest increase of all holders growing its holdings by 270% in Q1 to own a total of 222 shares worth around $32,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Notably, 83.19% of the company is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Overall the recent changes among equity analysts and clients show confidence for this already strong insurance provider but it will be interesting to see how they have been responding or evolving with existing competitors as well as with any potential systemic risks on the horizon.
