56,048 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC acquired 56,048 Progressive shares worth approximately $12.2 million, while institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of the insurer.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Progressive has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $236.26, despite several firms maintaining or upgrading “Buy” ratings.
• Progressive reported quarterly EPS of $5.67, surpassing estimates of $4.64, with revenue up 5% year over year; insiders nevertheless sold 83,449 shares worth $17.7 million over the past 90 days.

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 56,048 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,244,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $10,496,271,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,373,474,000 after acquiring an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Progressive by 8.9% in 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. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,682,342,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its position in Progressive by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,375,706,000 after buying an additional 1,092,151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Seven investment 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 MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $7,942,165.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 522,776 shares in the company, valued at $111,199,682.96. This trade represents a 6.67% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203 in the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $218.90 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $217.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $189.20 and a twelve month high of $249.83. The company has a market capitalization of $127.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive's 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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