Swedbank AB Sells 215,180 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Swedbank AB decreased its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 689,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 215,180 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Progressive were worth $170,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 6,350.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 900.0% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PGR. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Progressive from $276.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. HSBC set a $259.00 price target on shares of Progressive and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $264.98.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total transaction of $302,131.20. Following 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $227.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $239.80. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.19%.

About Progressive

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.