Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd Invests $353.91 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd opened a new position in Progressive, buying 1,554,129 shares worth about $353.9 million. The stake represents roughly 2.5% of its portfolio and makes Progressive its 14th-largest holding.
• Progressive recently reported Q1 earnings of $4.80 per share, topping analyst estimates, while revenue came in below expectations at $22.19 billion. The company also posted 6.5% year-over-year revenue growth and strong profitability metrics, including a 33.47% return on equity.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed: analysts have an average “Hold” rating with a consensus price target of $238.11. Progressive also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable July 10, for an annualized yield of about 0.2%.

Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,554,129 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $353,906,000. Progressive accounts for about 2.5% of Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd owned approximately 0.27% of Progressive at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.11.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $199.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $200.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.22. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $191.75 and a 1 year high of $289.96. The stock has a market cap of $116.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 0.31.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction 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 owned 26,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. The trade was a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,857,776. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

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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