AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Sells 821,435 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• AustralianSuper Pty Ltd sharply reduced its stake in Progressive, selling 821,435 shares in the fourth quarter and leaving it with 9,516 shares worth about $2.17 million.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.80 per share, though revenue came in below analyst estimates; revenue still rose 6.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $238.39, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd trimmed its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 98.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 821,435 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Progressive were worth $2,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 162 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 833.3% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 168 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.39.

Progressive Trading Up 1.5%

Progressive stock opened at $199.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $116.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $191.75 and a 1 year high of $289.96. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $201.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.50.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

About Progressive

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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