The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 38.8%, selling 53,373 shares, leaving them with 84,296 shares valued at approximately $23.86 million.
• Progressive's most recent earnings report showed EPS of $4.88, exceeding estimates, but revenue fell short of expectations at $20.08 billion.
• The company announced a dividend of $0.10 per share, reflecting a 15.0% yield, indicating a strong commitment to returning value to shareholders.

AIA Group Ltd cut its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 38.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,296 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 53,373 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Progressive were worth $23,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 36.4% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,893,000 after acquiring an additional 33,864 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its position in Progressive by 498.5% during the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,431,000 after buying an additional 4,212 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth $3,141,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 4.5% in the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 12,034 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,406,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $2.13 on Tuesday, reaching $242.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,396,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,425,107. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.33. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $255.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.33. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $220.33 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,191 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $795,324.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 37,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,465,387.48. The trade was a 7.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock worth $26,332,348. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PGR. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $265.00 target price on Progressive and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $283.94.

About Progressive

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.