Swedbank AB Increases Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Progressive by 9.5% in the first quarter, adding 71,395 shares to bring its total holding to 823,835 shares valued at about $163.3 million.
• Insiders have recently sold shares, including Director Jeffrey D. Kelly and insider John Jo Murphy, with total insider sales over the last 90 days reaching 15,230 shares worth $3.17 million.
• Progressive beat earnings expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting $4.80 EPS versus $4.67 expected, while revenue rose 6.5% year over year and the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

Swedbank AB increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 823,835 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 71,395 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.14% of Progressive worth $163,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 235.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 106.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 22,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days, insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Barclays set a $247.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $313.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.37.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded up $6.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $237.86. The company had a trading volume of 794,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,291,848. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $254.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $203.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.60.

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, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.12 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.