PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Invests $103.27 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• PFA Pension bought a new Q4 position of 449,046 shares in The Progressive Corporation valued at about $103.27 million, representing roughly 0.08% ownership.
• Progressive beat quarterly EPS estimates ($4.80 vs. $4.67) but missed revenue expectations ($22.19B vs. $23.51B); the company trades at a PE of 10.15 with a market cap of $116.76 billion.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" with a $238.39 price target (six Buys, 14 Holds, 2 Sells), and insiders have been net sellers recently (6,933 shares sold in the past 90 days).

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 449,046 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $103,267,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab owned about 0.08% of Progressive as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised 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 last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC raised 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 last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised 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 last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $199.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $116.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a PEG ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $192.02 and a 1-year high of $289.96. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $203.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.37 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on PGR shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,776. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

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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