Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys Shares of 1,477,250 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management acquired 1.48 million Progressive shares worth approximately $322.7 million, representing about 0.25% of the insurer. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 85.34% of Progressive.
• Progressive reported quarterly EPS of $5.67, beating analyst expectations of $4.64, while revenue reached $23.61 billion versus the $19.49 billion consensus estimate. Revenue increased 5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $233.16, compared with the stock’s reported price of $203.98. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, or a 0.2% annualized yield.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,477,250 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $322,706,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.25% of Progressive as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allstate Corp increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 22,915 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,447,000. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc grew its position in Progressive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 761,587 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $173,429,000 after buying an additional 9,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $353,906,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $203.98 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $214.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.43. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $254.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.Progressive's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $7,942,165.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 522,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at $111,199,682.96. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Mizuho set a $236.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $233.16.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source