AGF Management Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• AGF Management Ltd. has reduced its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 62.5%, owning 24,267 shares after selling 40,508 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Progressive, with Highline Wealth Partners LLC and TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosting their positions by 114.0% and 210.0%, respectively.
• Progressive's quarterly earnings were reported at $4.88 per share, exceeding expectations, while the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

AGF Management Ltd. decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 62.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,267 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 40,508 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $6,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 114.0% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 210.0% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Progressive during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the first quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $795,324.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 37,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,465,387.48. This trade represents a 7.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $552,814.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 47,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,949,064.08. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock valued at $26,332,348. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:PGR traded up $2.00 on Thursday, hitting $251.19. 4,574,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,178,978. The stock has a market cap of $147.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.33. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $253.79 and a 200-day moving average of $266.24. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.