Panagora Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. has increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 16.7%, acquiring an additional 99,088 shares to hold a total of 691,546 shares, representing 1.0% of its portfolio.
• Insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of Progressive for over $1.5 million, indicating a 22.38% decrease in his holdings, while Lori A. Niederst also sold 8,063 shares valued at approximately $2 million.
• The Progressive Corporation plans to pay a $0.10 quarterly dividend on October 10th, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.2%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 16.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 691,546 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 99,088 shares during the period. Progressive makes up about 1.0% of Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of Progressive worth $195,714,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Progressive by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,426,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 36.4% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,893,000 after purchasing an additional 33,864 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 498.5% during the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth about $3,141,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.5% during the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 12,034 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,406,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,391 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $595,932.84. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 26,698 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,654,209.52. This represents a 8.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,351 shares of company stock worth $27,003,746 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America lowered their price target on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.18.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $245.83. 2,353,143 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,222,724. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $249.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $266.09. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $228.54 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $144.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid 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, October 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

About Progressive

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.