State of Wisconsin Investment Board Trims Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• State of Wisconsin Investment Board reduced its Progressive stake by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,232 shares and ending with 305,930 shares valued at about $69.7 million.
• Progressive reported Q1 earnings of $4.80 per share, beating estimates, though revenue of $22.19 billion came in below expectations. The company also said revenue rose 6.5% year over year.
• The insurer announced 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.

State of Wisconsin Investment Board lowered its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 305,930 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 8,232 shares during the quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board owned about 0.05% of Progressive worth $69,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Revisor Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 7,463 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,267,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE PGR opened at $204.70 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $199.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.60. 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 stock has a market cap of $119.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $267.92.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm 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 for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $231,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,733,600. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore restated a "negative" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus 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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