Formuepleje A S Buys 4,759 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Formuepleje A S increased its Progressive stake by 20.9% in the second quarter, acquiring 4,759 shares and bringing its holdings to 27,574 shares valued at approximately $6.0 million. Institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of the insurer.
• Analysts maintain a broadly neutral outlook, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.26, compared with the stock’s recent price of $218.41.
• Progressive exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $5.67 EPS versus the $4.64 consensus estimate and $23.61 billion in revenue. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, while insiders have sold shares worth about $24.5 million over the past three months.

Formuepleje A S increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,574 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,759 shares during the period. Formuepleje A S's holdings in Progressive were worth $6,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,260,000. Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in Progressive by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $10,136,000 after acquiring an additional 22,915 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $8,447,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth $3,025,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $225.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.26.

Progressive Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $218.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $217.56 and a 200 day moving average of $207.81. The firm has a market cap of $126.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $249.71.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. Progressive's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given 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, October 1st. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $769,780.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,370,900. This represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total value of $268,765.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 31,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,857,785.80. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 113,714 shares of company stock worth $24,466,294 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

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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