Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Purchases Shares of 24,266 The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a stake in The Progressive Corporation, purchasing 24,266 shares valued at approximately $6.87 million.
• Progressive reported earnings per share of $4.88, surpassing analysts' estimates by $0.45, with revenues of $20.08 billion for the quarter.
• The company recently declared a dividend of $0.10 per share, representing a dividend yield of 0.15% and a dividend payout ratio of 2.25%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 24,266 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,867,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.3% in the first quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 27,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,531,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.3% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 257,613 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $72,907,000 after purchasing an additional 36,017 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 88.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 49,291 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $13,950,000 after purchasing an additional 23,120 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at $156,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.0% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 8,468 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $1,041,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,750,829.82. This trade represents a 8.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock valued at $26,332,348. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.88.

Progressive Trading Down 0.4%

Progressive stock traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $241.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,869,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,275,895. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $260.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $208.13 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 15.0%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Progressive Company 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.