Saudi Central Bank Acquires 19,311 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Saudi Central Bank increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 89.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,948 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,311 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Unique Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 4.3% in the second quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,267,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.4% during the second quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total transaction of $268,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,857,785.80. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $769,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at $9,370,900. This represents a 7.59% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,714 shares of company stock worth $24,466,294. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on PGR. Mizuho set a $236.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on Progressive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.26.

Progressive Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $218.41 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $249.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $217.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.79. The company has a market capitalization of $126.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.