Handelsbanken Fonder AB Trims Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in Progressive by 29.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 87,358 shares and leaving it with 207,060 shares valued at about $47.2 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains cautious: analysts currently have a consensus “Hold” rating on Progressive, with an average price target of $238.39 after several firms trimmed their targets.
• Progressive reported Q1 results that beat EPS estimates at $4.80 per share, while revenue came in below expectations; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable July 10.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 29.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 207,060 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 87,358 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Progressive were worth $47,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co raised its position in Progressive by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 162 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of Progressive 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $203.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $118.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.31. The company's 50 day moving average is $200.73 and its 200 day moving average is $210.37. 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 Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $191.75 and a 52-week high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for 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%. Progressive's 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.03%.

About Progressive

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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