Prospera Financial Services Inc Lowers Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Prospera Financial Services cut its stake in Progressive by 37.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,243 shares and ending with 11,997 shares valued at about $2.73 million.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected earnings of $4.80 per share for the quarter, though revenue came in below estimates at $22.19 billion. Quarterly revenue still rose 6.5% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable July 10, while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average with a consensus price target of $238.11.

Prospera Financial Services Inc reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 37.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,997 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,243 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc's holdings in Progressive were worth $2,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $12,584,067,000 after buying an additional 593,612 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted 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 valued at $6,373,474,000 after buying an additional 78,374 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted 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 valued at $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 valued at $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted 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 valued at $1,036,230,000 after buying an additional 197,603 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of PGR opened at $199.05 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $200.22 and its 200 day moving average is $210.12. The company has a market capitalization of $116.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $191.75 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.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $745,604.00. Following the sale, the insider 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,928 shares of company stock worth $831,251. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on Progressive in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.11.

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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