Intech Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management cut its stake in Progressive by 51.6% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 185,160 shares valued at about $42.2 million.
• Progressive’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $4.80 versus a $4.67 estimate, though revenue came in below forecasts at $22.19 billion.
• Wall Street remains cautious on the stock overall, with analysts assigning Progressive a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $238.11.

Intech Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 51.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 185,160 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 197,581 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $42,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,584,067,000 after acquiring an additional 593,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,373,474,000 after acquiring an additional 78,374 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 78.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,384,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,757,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,230,000 after acquiring an additional 197,603 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $194.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $191.75 and a 12-month high of $289.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $199.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.87.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 3,928 shares of company stock worth $831,251 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

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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