Brandes Investment Partners LP Invests $137.15 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Brandes Investment Partners LP opened a new position in Progressive, buying 602,276 shares valued at about $137.15 million in the fourth quarter. The stake represented roughly 0.10% of the insurer.
• Progressive continues to see heavy institutional ownership, with 85.34% of its stock held by institutions, even as some insiders sold shares recently. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,343 shares worth about $1.47 million.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $4.80 EPS versus an expected $4.67, and it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share. Analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average target price of $238.11.

Brandes Investment Partners LP bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 602,276 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $137,153,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned about 0.10% of Progressive at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.8% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 12.0% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $199.80 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day moving average is $198.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.42. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $271.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.75 billion, a PE ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $259.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.11.

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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