Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Sells 6,313 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 3.2%, holding 191,692 shares valued at $54.25 million as of the latest report.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes in Progressive, with Highline Wealth Partners LLC and TruNorth Capital Management LLC raising their holdings by over 100% during the first quarter.
• Progressive announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.2%, with the payment scheduled for October 10.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ decreased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 191,692 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 6,313 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in Progressive were worth $54,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the 1st 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 last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 36.4% in the 1st 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 last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 498.5% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $3,141,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.5% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $247.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,408,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,806,058. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.44 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $249.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.20. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The firm's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays cut their price objective on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total value of $556,230.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 45,724 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,466,664.72. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,351 shares of company stock worth $27,003,746 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.