Axiom Investors LLC DE Invests $194.56 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Axiom Investors LLC DE has acquired a new stake of 687,456 shares in The Progressive Corporation, valued at approximately $194.5 million, making it the 22nd largest position in their investment portfolio.
• Insiders at Progressive have sold a total of 139,010 shares in the last three months, with CFO John P. Sauerland recently selling 16,664 shares for over $4 million.
• Progressive recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, set to be paid on October 10th, reflecting a 0.2% dividend yield.

Axiom Investors LLC DE acquired a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 687,456 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $194,557,000. Progressive comprises about 1.8% of Axiom Investors LLC DE's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned 0.12% of Progressive at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its holdings in Progressive by 21.0% during the first quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 2,014 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank lifted its holdings in Progressive by 4.8% during the first quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 6,925 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.3% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 11.1% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 48,955 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $13,855,000 after purchasing an additional 4,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% during the first quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,053 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $247.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 577,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,175,785. The business's 50-day moving average price is $246.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.12. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $228.54 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $144.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at $122,741,523.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,010 shares of company stock valued at $34,547,699. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, August 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.82.

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.