Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Has $61.66 Million Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 311,050 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 26,259 shares during the quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP owned approximately 0.05% of Progressive worth $61,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Progressive by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,398,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,527 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,375,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. Mizuho lifted their target price on Progressive from $217.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America cut their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. HSBC lifted their price objective on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. This trade represents a 23.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total transaction of $1,727,974.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,782,595.70. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 74,885 shares of company stock worth $15,880,459 over the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE:PGR opened at $213.09 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $254.93. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $211.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.26.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

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.