Nykredit A S Makes New $42.01 Million Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 192,321 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,013,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.5% during the second quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 61,962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,536,000 after purchasing an additional 2,674 shares during the period. Sunburst Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,603 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Natural Investments LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Natural Investments LLC now owns 2,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. SkyOak Wealth LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $525,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lori Niederst sold 7,339 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 113,714 shares of company stock worth $24,466,294 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $223.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $217.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.71. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $249.83.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Progressive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Evercore set a $240.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.26.

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.