Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its stake in Progressive by 159.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 33,047 shares valued at about $7.53 million.
• Progressive reported Q1 earnings of $4.80 per share, topping analyst expectations, though revenue came in below estimates at $22.19 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share and has drawn mixed analyst sentiment, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $238.39.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 159.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,047 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 20,318 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Progressive were worth $7,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Progressive by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co lifted its stake in Progressive by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 162 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,857,776. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564 in the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of PGR opened at $203.02 on Wednesday. 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 Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $191.75 and a 12-month high of $289.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $200.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company 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%. Progressive's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.39.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.