Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Raises Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,398 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $16,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 900.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered their target price on Progressive from $350.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $260.74.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $214.97 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $223.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $199.90 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $126.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total value of $302,131.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at $5,924,379.20. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,034 shares of company stock valued at $2,047,481. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.