Ieq Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Ieq Capital purchased 70,816 shares of Progressive worth approximately $15.47 million in the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of the insurer.
• Progressive reported quarterly earnings of $5.67 per share, beating estimates by $1.03, while revenue reached $23.61 billion, up 5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $236.05; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 70,816 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $15,470,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allstate Corp grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 22,915 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,447,000. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 761,587 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $173,429,000 after buying an additional 9,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $353,906,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $476,895.82. Following the sale, the executive owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,583,637.50. The trade was a 7.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at $8,908,847.43. This represents a 14.71% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,224 shares of company stock worth $17,416,438. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Seven 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $236.05.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $219.45 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $215.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.64. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $252.82.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The firm's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.01%.

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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