Marathon Asset Management Ltd Raises Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Marathon Asset Management increased its stake in Progressive by 5.1% in Q4, adding 7,418 shares to bring its total to 154,309 shares valued at about $35.1 million.
• Wall Street remains cautious on Progressive: the stock has an average analyst rating of “Hold”, with 6 Buy, 14 Hold, and 2 Sell ratings and an average target price of $238.39.
• Progressive beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, posting $4.80 EPS versus the $4.67 estimate, though revenue came in below forecasts at $22.19 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable July 10.

Marathon Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 154,309 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 7,418 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 1.4% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Marathon Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Progressive were worth $35,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 106.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in Progressive by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co grew its holdings in Progressive by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 162 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PGR. Argus raised Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Evercore reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.39.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $203.02 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $200.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.37. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $191.75 and a twelve month high of $289.96. The stock has a market cap of $118.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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