M&T Bank Corp Acquires 658,607 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 1,363.8% in the fourth quarter, acquiring 658,607 shares and now owning 706,898 shares worth about $161 million (0.12% of PGR).
• Progressive reported quarterly EPS of $4.80, beating estimates of $4.67, while revenue of $22.19 billion missed estimates of $23.51 billion; revenue was up 6.5% year-over-year and return on equity was 33.47%.
• The company paid a $0.10 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.40, yield 0.2%); insiders sold about 6,933 shares (~$1.44M) in the last three months, institutions own 85.34% of the stock, and analysts' consensus rating is "Hold" with a $238.39 price target.

M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1,363.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 706,898 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 658,607 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp owned 0.12% of Progressive worth $160,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SageGuard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $13,134,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,010 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. PFG Advisors increased its position in shares of Progressive by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 1,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Vision Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,264 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,753,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, Revisor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $207.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $121.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.91. 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 Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $192.02 and a fifty-two week high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.37 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 sale, the executive owned 26,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Six equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PGR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report).

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.