Ameriprise Financial Inc. Has $457.97 Million Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 20.9% during the first quarter, owning approximately $457.97 million worth of shares.
• Progressive recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.88, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.43, and its revenue for the quarter was $20.08 billion, which was less than anticipated.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.2%, to be paid on October 10th to shareholders on record by October 2nd.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 20.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,618,164 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 279,613 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.28% of Progressive worth $457,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.0% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 210.0% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI cut Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $312.00 price target for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.18.

Progressive Trading Down 0.0%

PGR traded down $0.0130 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $248.9370. The stock had a trading volume of 2,532,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,177,513. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $251.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.33. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $228.54 and a 1-year high of $292.99.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given 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 presently 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,061,917.04. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 108,556 shares of company stock worth $27,306,166. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.