Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Cuts Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. has reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 8.5%, now holding 501,180 shares worth approximately $141.84 million.
• Progressive reported earnings of $4.88 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and had a net margin of 12.66% with quarterly revenue increasing by 12.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.2%, indicating a low payout ratio of 2.25%.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 501,180 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 46,505 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.09% of Progressive worth $141,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,893,000 after purchasing an additional 33,864 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 498.5% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth about $3,141,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 12,034 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,406,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total value of $7,423,399.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total transaction of $1,509,141.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,742,703.04. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded down $5.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $243.76. 1,690,776 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,637,555. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $265.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $228.54 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid 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 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

Progressive Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.