Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Decreases Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Royal London Asset Management trimmed its Progressive stake by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,054 shares and leaving it with 1,111,635 shares worth about $238.1 million.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $4.80 versus $4.67 estimated, though revenue of $22.19 billion came in below forecasts. 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 consensus Hold with an average target price of $238.11.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,111,635 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 12,054 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.19% of Progressive worth $238,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $202.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $269.84. The business has a 50 day moving average of $199.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.05. The company has a market capitalization of $118.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Argus upgraded shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $231,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at $5,733,600. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355. 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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