Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 214,016 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Franklin Resources boosted its stake in Progressive by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 214,016 shares and bringing its total holding to 1.93 million shares worth about $440.6 million.
• Progressive’s stock was trading around $200.33, down 1.8% on the day, while analysts maintain a Hold consensus with an average price target of $238.11.
• The insurer recently beat earnings estimates with $4.80 EPS for the quarter, though revenue came in below expectations; it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share payable July 10.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,934,820 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 214,016 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.33% of Progressive worth $440,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 7.8% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $609,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 12.0% during the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays set a $247.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $200.33 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $117.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.28. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $198.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.58. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $278.71.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued 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 is 2.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer 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 available at this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

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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