Capital World Investors Acquires 17,494 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Capital World Investors increased its stake in Progressive by 17,494 shares in the fourth quarter, bringing its total holdings to 9.52 million shares worth about $2.17 billion.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted their positions, and institutions now own 85.34% of Progressive’s stock.
• Analysts remain mixed on the insurer: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $238.11, while the company recently beat EPS estimates and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,522,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,494 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned 1.62% of Progressive worth $2,168,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $259.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays set a $247.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business's 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $204.27 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average is $198.89 and its 200 day moving average is $208.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $119.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $283.95.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.03%.

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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