Baillie Gifford & Co. Reduces Stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 18.5%, selling approximately 12,483 shares, and now owns 55,010 shares valued at around $15.57 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their positions in Progressive, with GAMMA Investing LLC growing its holdings by an astronomical 39,285%, now owning over 3 million shares valued at nearly $862 million.
• Progressive reported a quarterly EPS of $4.88, exceeding expectations, while revenue reached $20.08 billion, marking a 12.1% year-over-year increase.

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,010 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 12,483 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $15,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 39,285.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $862,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,303 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after buying an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S grew its stake in Progressive by 12,110.3% during the first quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $353,374,000 after buying an additional 1,238,402 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,433,722,000 after purchasing an additional 915,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,480,677,000 after purchasing an additional 710,684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.2%

PGR traded up $0.50 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $241.99. 811,282 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,264,770. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business's 50 day moving average is $262.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.14. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $208.13 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $141.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.66, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.79, for a total value of $2,637,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,150,450.96. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $958,642.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,181,673.31. The trade was a 23.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,972 shares of company stock valued at $9,078,681. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Progressive 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.