B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires 5,802 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 14.5%, acquiring an additional 5,802 shares to reach a total of 45,730 shares worth approximately $12.94 million.
• The Progressive Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, set to be paid on October 10th, with a payout ratio of 2.25%.
• In its latest earnings report, Progressive reported $4.88 earnings per share, exceeding estimates, alongside a revenue of $20.08 billion despite analyst expectations of $20.39 billion.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 14.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,730 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,802 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Progressive were worth $12,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 483 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 56.1% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 50,639 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $14,332,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Asset Management LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,830,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 17,905 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,067,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.7%

PGR opened at $245.71 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $250.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.35. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $228.54 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $312.00 price target on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,832,701.76. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,351 shares of company stock valued at $27,003,746 over the last three months. 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.

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