Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 37,795 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich trimmed its Progressive stake by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 37,795 shares and ending with 1,875,074 shares valued at about $427.46 million.
• Progressive insiders also sold shares recently, including CIO Jonathan S. Bauer and insider Karen Bailo, with total insider sales of 6,933 shares worth about $1.44 million over the last three months.
• The company reported solid quarterly results and raised shareholder returns, beating EPS estimates with $4.80 per share and announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, though analysts still rate the stock a consensus “Hold.”

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,875,074 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 37,795 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 1.2% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned approximately 0.32% of Progressive worth $427,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 106.6% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Progressive by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co boosted its holdings in Progressive by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 162 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 833.3% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 168 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the sale, the executive owned 26,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. The trade was a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $196.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $201.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.73. The company has a market cap of $114.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $191.75 and a 52-week high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. HSBC cut Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Bank of America increased their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.39.

Trending Headlines about Progressive

Here are the key news stories impacting Progressive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Progressive continued its shareholder-return program by declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, reinforcing management’s commitment to returning capital to investors. Progressive stock overview
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted Progressive’s CFO transition alongside an ongoing buyback plan, which suggests management is still focused on disciplined capital allocation and supporting shareholder value. Does Progressive’s (PGR) CFO Transition and Buyback Plan Reveal a Deeper Capital Allocation Strategy?
• Neutral Sentiment: The dividend announcement is small in absolute terms and appears to be a standard, expected update, so it is unlikely to materially change near-term fundamentals on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: With no new earnings beat or guidance raise in the latest headlines, the stock may be under pressure from broader profit-taking and investor focus on valuation after a strong prior run.

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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