Invesco Ltd. Has $1.36 Billion Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has reduced its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 13.1%, selling 724,989 shares in the first quarter, leaving it with approximately 4.8 million shares valued at about $1.36 billion.
• Several investors have significantly increased their positions in Progressive, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its stake by 39,285.0%, now owning over 3 million shares worth $862 million.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Progressive, with recent target price adjustments leading to a current average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.88.

Invesco Ltd. cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 13.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,796,556 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 724,989 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.82% of Progressive worth $1,357,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $15,289,037,000 after acquiring an additional 622,590 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Progressive by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,480,677,000 after acquiring an additional 710,684 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Progressive by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,433,722,000 after acquiring an additional 915,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Progressive by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,447,442 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,305,262,000 after acquiring an additional 337,146 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $2.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $242.34. The stock had a trading volume of 124,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,234,053. The company's fifty day moving average is $255.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.49. 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 Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $220.33 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $552,814.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 47,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,949,064.08. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock worth $26,332,348. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI cut shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.94.

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.