Alliancebernstein L.P. Purchases 1,091,828 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 15.2%, bringing its holdings to over 8.26 million shares, which is now the firm's 15th largest position.
• Progressive reported $4.88 EPS for the most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, but its revenue of $20.08 billion was below expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, to be distributed on October 10th, resulting in an annualized payout of $0.40 and a yield of 0.2%.

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,091,828 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises approximately 0.8% of Alliancebernstein L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 1.41% of Progressive worth $2,338,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $15,289,037,000 after purchasing an additional 622,590 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 61.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,433,722,000 after purchasing an additional 915,643 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,447,442 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,305,262,000 after acquiring an additional 337,146 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at about $1,473,180,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR traded down $5.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $243.76. 1,690,776 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,637,555. 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 company has a market cap of $142.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $247.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.56.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.96, for a total value of $1,557,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,402,135.52. This trade represents a 22.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,010 shares of company stock valued at $34,547,699 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.18.

Progressive Company 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.