Madison Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management cut its Progressive stake by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 30,265 shares and ending with 367,175 shares worth about $83.6 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 85.34% of Progressive’s stock; several funds recently increased positions while others added new stakes.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $4.80 per share, though revenue came in below estimates, and analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with an average target price of $238.39.

Madison Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 367,175 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 30,265 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Progressive worth $83,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Progressive by 30.2% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,381,000 after acquiring an additional 23,833 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp raised its stake in Progressive by 1,614.1% during the third quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 21,598 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,334,000 after buying an additional 20,338 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of Progressive by 471.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 22,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,556,000 after acquiring an additional 18,558 shares in the last quarter. Tema Etfs LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,250,000. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,063,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $259.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.39.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,776. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564 over the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8%

Progressive stock opened at $198.52 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $201.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $191.75 and a 52 week high of $289.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.39 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Progressive Company 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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