Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 136,231 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 136,231 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 882,915 shares valued at about $201.1 million.
• Progressive’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $4.80 versus the $4.67 consensus, though quarterly revenue of $22.19 billion came in below estimates. Analysts still expect the company to earn 16.36 per share for the full year.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $238.11. The shares recently traded at $192.95, near their 12-month low of $189.20.

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 882,915 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 136,231 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Progressive worth $201,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after acquiring an additional 593,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,373,474,000 after buying an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $1,836,094,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $192.95 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $289.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $199.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.49. The stock has a market cap of $112.75 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,857,776. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,928 shares of company stock valued at $831,251. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Progressive

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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