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

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 1.1% during the first quarter, now holding shares worth approximately $30.66 million.
• Progressive reported a 12.1% year-over-year revenue increase in its latest quarterly earnings, with earnings per share of $4.88, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.2%, to be paid on October 10th.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd decreased its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,348 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,158 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Progressive were worth $30,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 210.0% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $248.29. 2,612,107 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,408,336. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $145.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $246.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.74.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total value of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total value of $1,509,141.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,742,703.04. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Evercore ISI downgraded Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.82.

Progressive Company 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.