Gabelli Funds LLC Acquires Shares of 7,174 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC initiated a new position in Progressive, buying 7,174 shares worth about $1.63 million in the fourth quarter. Several other institutional investors also added to or opened positions, and institutions now own 85.34% of the stock.
• Analysts remain cautious overall on Progressive: the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.11. Recent notes included cuts from Morgan Stanley and Evercore, though some firms still have buy ratings on the insurer.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected earnings of $4.80 per share for the quarter, while revenue came in below estimates. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, yielding about 0.2%.

Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,174 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,634,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $679,000. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,576,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC now owns 2,248 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $560,000. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 146.8% during the fourth quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,577 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Evercore restated a "negative" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.11.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $199.28 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $191.75 and a 1 year high of $289.96. The firm has a market cap of $116.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.13, a PEG ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.22.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.37 EPS. Analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate 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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