Phoenix Financial Ltd. Sells 5,972 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. reduced its stake in Progressive by 19% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,972 shares and leaving it with 25,532 shares valued at about $5.8 million.
• Progressive reported Q1 earnings of $4.80 per share, beating analyst expectations, though revenue of $22.19 billion came in below estimates. Revenue still rose 6.5% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable July 10, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus "Hold" with an average price target of $238.39.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,532 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 5,972 shares during the quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,584,067,000 after acquiring an additional 593,612 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,373,474,000 after acquiring an additional 78,374 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 78.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,384,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,230,000 after acquiring an additional 197,603 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $196.93 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $191.75 and a 1 year high of $289.96. 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 cap of $115.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $201.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $210.57.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.37 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PGR. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.39.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Company 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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