The Progressive Corporation $PGR Stock Position Reduced by Royal Bank of Canada

Key Points

• The Royal Bank of Canada has reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 11.8%, selling 264,231 shares and now owns approximately 0.34% of the company, valued at around $559,741,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Progressive during the first quarter, with total institutional ownership now at 85.34%.
• The Progressive Corporation has announced a $0.10 quarterly dividend scheduled for payment on October 10th, contributing to an annualized yield of 0.2%.

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 11.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,977,809 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 264,231 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.34% of Progressive worth $559,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,645,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,338,551 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $320,710,000 after buying an additional 46,507 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE PGR traded up $2.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $248.87. 2,004,669 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,211,660. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $228.54 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $145.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.25%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,061,917.04. This trade represents a 21.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $4,153,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Evercore ISI downgraded Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.18.

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.