The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Bought by Capital International Investors

Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 78.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Progressive were worth $3,384,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,667,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,500,146,000 after acquiring an additional 151,240 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,513,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,128,055,000 after purchasing an additional 301,371 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 32.8% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,928,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709,417 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,156,939,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Progressive by 4.9% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,036,230,000 after purchasing an additional 197,603 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. William Blair cut shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Progressive from $350.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.50.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $206.70 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a PEG ratio of 9.19 and a beta of 0.33. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $197.92 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 3,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total value of $634,506.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 26,249 shares in the company, valued at $5,363,983.15. This trade represents a 10.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,761 shares of company stock valued at $2,659,420 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.