4,281,720 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Acquired by Jupiter Topco LLC

Key Points

• Jupiter Topco LLC acquired 4.28 million Progressive shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $935.2 million and representing about 0.74% of the insurer.
• Institutional investors own 85.34% of Progressive, with BlackRock, State Street, Capital International Investors, GQG Partners and Norges Bank among significant holders. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $236.05.
• Progressive exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.67 in earnings per share versus the $4.64 consensus and $23.61 billion in revenue. Insiders sold 83,449 shares worth $17.7 million during the last quarter, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,281,720 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $935,172,000. Jupiter Topco LLC owned about 0.74% of Progressive as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth about $10,496,271,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after buying an additional 78,374 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,398,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,527 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,375,706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $1,836,094,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $228.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total value of $1,727,974.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,782,595.70. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $221.77 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $216.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.94. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $249.83. The company has a market capitalization of $128.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.12, a PEG ratio of 2.99 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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