IFM Investors Pty Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 4.6% in Q2, bringing its total holdings to 113,305 shares valued at approximately $30.24 million.
• Progressive's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $4.88, exceeding the consensus estimate of $4.43 and reflecting a 12.1% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10, with a scheduled payment date on October 10th, indicating a 0.2% yield.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,305 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 4,957 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Progressive were worth $30,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,426,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma purchased a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $439,000. Belmont Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter worth about $580,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in Progressive by 87.9% during the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 414,183 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $117,218,000 after buying an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 36.4% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,893,000 after buying an additional 33,864 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.1%

Progressive stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $242.26. The company had a trading volume of 4,778,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,433,152. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $245.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. Progressive's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.96, for a total value of $1,557,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 21,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,402,135.52. The trade was a 22.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total transaction of $7,543,953.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 130,062 shares of company stock valued at $32,217,635 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $279.44.

Progressive Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.