Bailard Inc. Cuts Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Bailard Inc. cut its stake in Progressive by 74.5% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 2,597 shares valued at about $591,000.
• Progressive reported earnings of $4.80 per share for the quarter, beating analyst estimates, though revenue came in below expectations at $22.19 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus "Hold" with a target price of $238.39.

Bailard Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 74.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,597 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,568 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,584,067,000 after buying an additional 593,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,373,474,000 after buying an additional 78,374 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.9% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,230,000 after buying an additional 197,603 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $196.93 on Friday. 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 market cap of $115.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.31. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $201.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.57. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $191.75 and a 12-month high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total transaction of $460,111.30. Following the transaction, the executive owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. This trade represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Evercore reiterated a "negative" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.39.

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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