Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Makes New $1.15 Million Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd opened a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter, buying 5,061 shares valued at about $1.15 million.
• Progressive reported Q1 earnings of $4.80 per share, beating estimates of $4.67, though revenue of $22.19 billion came in below expectations. The company also posted 6.5% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Analysts remain cautious overall, with a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $238.11. Meanwhile, insider selling was disclosed in June, including transactions by John Jo Murphy and Steven Broz under pre-arranged trading plans.

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,061 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,152,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 7,463 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,267,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Up 0.1%

Progressive stock opened at $203.40 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $269.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.37 EPS. Progressive's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $231,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 28,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,733,600. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.

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