Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management cut its Progressive stake by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,066 shares and leaving it with 250,851 shares valued at about $57.1 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted their holdings, and overall hedge funds and institutions own 85.34% of Progressive’s shares.
• Progressive reported quarterly earnings of $4.80 per share, topping estimates, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus "Hold" with an average target price of $238.11.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,851 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 5,066 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $57,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 1,111 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its holdings in Progressive by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 7,463 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $204.27 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $283.95. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $198.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.75. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $119.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during 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%. The company's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.03%.

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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