National Pension Service Sells 115,045 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• National Pension Service cut its Progressive stake by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 115,045 shares and leaving it with 1,334,312 shares worth about $285.8 million.
• Progressive insiders also sold shares recently, including Karen Bailo and CAO Carl G. Joyce, with total insider sales over the last three months amounting to 3,928 shares worth $831,251.
• Progressive reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS estimates at $4.80 per share, though revenue of $22.19 billion came in below expectations. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

National Pension Service reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,334,312 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 115,045 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.23% of Progressive worth $285,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $745,604.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,928 shares of company stock worth $831,251. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $259.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Six equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $194.73 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $191.75 and a one year high of $289.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $199.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $209.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

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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