The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 95%, selling 504,483 shares and holding 26,346 shares valued at approximately $7.46 million.
• Progressive's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $4.88, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $20.08 billion despite being lower than forecasts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10, contributing to a 0.2% yield for investors, with the next payment scheduled for October 10th.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board cut its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 95.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,346 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 504,483 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Progressive were worth $7,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the first quarter valued at $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 61.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 39,285.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $862,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038,303 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S boosted its holdings in Progressive by 12,110.3% in the first quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $353,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,402 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,433,722,000 after purchasing an additional 915,643 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target on Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $337,299.10. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,958,001.74. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.96, for a total value of $1,557,750.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 21,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,402,135.52. This trade represents a 22.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 139,010 shares of company stock valued at $34,547,699. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $5.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $243.76. 1,690,776 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,637,555. The business's 50-day moving average price is $247.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $228.54 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $142.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.25%.

Progressive 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.