Stephens Inc. AR Raises Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Progressive by 44.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 26,543 shares valued at about $6.0 million.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.80 EPS, beating estimates, though revenue of $22.19 billion came in below analyst expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, and analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average with a consensus price target of $238.39.

Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 44.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,543 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,156 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Progressive were worth $6,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.8% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 12.0% during the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total transaction of $460,111.30. Following the transaction, the executive owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,062.50. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,857,776. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $199.83 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $116.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.46. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $191.75 and a one year high of $289.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The business 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Six 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.39.

About Progressive

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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