Fiduciary Management Inc. WI Sells 31,842 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Fiduciary Management Inc. WI reduced its stake in Progressive by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 31,842 shares and leaving it with 408,081 shares valued at about $92.9 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed on Progressive: the stock carries a consensus Hold rating, with an average price target of $238.11, while analysts’ individual views range from Buy to Sell.
• Progressive recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $4.80 EPS versus the $4.67 estimate, and it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share to be paid on July 10.

Fiduciary Management Inc. WI trimmed its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 408,081 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 31,842 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI owned approximately 0.07% of Progressive worth $92,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 106.6% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in Progressive by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings cut Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $204.27 on Friday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $198.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.87. The firm 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 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $283.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Company 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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