Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Purchases 34,380 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its stake in Progressive by 2,713.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 34,380 shares to hold 35,647 shares valued at approximately $8.12 million.
• In its most recent quarter Progressive reported EPS of $4.80, beating consensus by $0.13 but posting revenue of $22.19 billion below estimates; the stock trades at a PE of 10.2 with a market cap near $117.4 billion.
• Corporate insiders have been net sellers—6,933 shares sold worth about $1.44 million in the last 90 days—while institutional investors own roughly 85.34% of the stock and insiders own 0.32%.

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2,713.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,647 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 34,380 shares during the quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 162 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $745,604.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,857,776. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. This trade represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564 in the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $200.65 on Thursday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $192.02 and a 52-week high of $289.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.33. The business's 50 day moving average price is $203.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.45. The firm has a market cap of $117.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on PGR. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.39.

Progressive 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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