National Pension Service Grows Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its Progressive stake by 3.2% in the second quarter, adding 41,337 shares to own 1.34 million shares valued at approximately $292 million. Institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of the company.
• Progressive insiders sold 113,714 shares worth about $24.5 million over the past three months, although the transactions were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Analysts maintain a predominantly neutral view, with Progressive carrying an average “Hold” rating and a $236.26 price target. The company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $5.67 EPS versus the $4.64 consensus estimate, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,336,735 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 41,337 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.23% of Progressive worth $292,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 235.1% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,880,743.08. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total transaction of $268,765.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,257 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,785.80. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 113,714 shares of company stock valued at $24,466,294 over the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.26.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $215.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $125.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $217.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.06. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $249.71.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation, founded in 1937 and headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio, is an insurance company that primarily serves customers in the United States. The company is best known for its personal and commercial auto insurance businesses and distributes products through independent agents, direct channels and digital platforms.

Progressive offers a broad range of insurance products, including coverage for automobiles, motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles, homes and renters.

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