The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Sold by Amundi

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its position in The Progressive Corporation by 26.3%, now owning 2,401,077 shares valued at approximately $688.46 million.
• Analysts' price targets for Progressive's stock have seen decreases, with Barclays setting a new target at $281.00 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods at $268.00.
• Progressive recently reported strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $4.88, surpassing estimates, and declared a dividend of $0.10 per share to be paid on October 10th.

Amundi reduced its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 26.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,401,077 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 858,656 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.41% of Progressive worth $688,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.8% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,201,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 29.9% in the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,009 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $569,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 89.6% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 221,062 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $62,593,000 after acquiring an additional 104,495 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 6.3% in the first quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 850,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $240,558,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 80.0% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,821 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 2.1%

PGR stock traded down $5.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $243.76. 1,690,776 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,637,555. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $228.54 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average of $247.98 and a 200-day moving average of $265.58. The firm 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at $122,741,523.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,010 shares of company stock valued at $34,547,699 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.