Kinsale Capital Group Inc. Raises Stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Kinsale Capital Group Inc. increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 13.4%, acquiring an additional 5,062 shares, totaling 42,932 shares valued at approximately $12.15 million.
• The Progressive Corporation reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.88 for its most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, while also achieving a net margin of 12.66%.
• Progressive's stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts, with an average price target of $286.88.

Kinsale Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 42,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 5,062 shares during the period. Progressive makes up about 3.0% of Kinsale Capital Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Kinsale Capital Group Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $12,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $19,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 36.4% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,893,000 after purchasing an additional 33,864 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 498.5% during the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,141,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.5% during the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 12,034 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,406,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.79, for a total transaction of $2,637,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at $60,150,450.96. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total transaction of $691,398.30. Following the sale, the director owned 12,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. This represents a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,972 shares of company stock valued at $9,078,681. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $9.43 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $240.67. 5,549,639 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,551,047. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $208.13 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.34. The business's 50 day moving average price is $263.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.88.

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.