Tredje AP fonden Boosts Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Tredje AP fonden lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 174,856 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,856 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Progressive were worth $39,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Capital International Investors raised its position in Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2,012.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 767,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,546,000 after purchasing an additional 731,207 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Progressive by 1,363.8% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 706,898 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $160,975,000 after purchasing an additional 658,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 1,577,453 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $389,552,000 after buying an additional 653,763 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the sale, the executive owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,330,062.50. This trade represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,776. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $203.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.40. The firm has a market cap of $119.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $191.75 and a 1 year high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays set a $247.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.39.

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.