The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Acquired by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 11.2%, now owning 174,649 shares valued at approximately $49.4 million.
• Recent analyst reports have seen varied ratings for Progressive, with Morgan Stanley lowering its target price to $265 while Wells Fargo raised it to $333, indicating mixed sentiment.
• Progressive announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10, which is set to be paid on October 10th, reflecting a yield of 0.2%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 174,649 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 17,591 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $49,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in Progressive by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,645,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the period. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,096 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,576,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $247.05. 2,163,786 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,207,112. The firm has a market cap of $144.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $253.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.51. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $228.54 and a 1-year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI lowered Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $284.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $122,741,523.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,313 shares of company stock worth $28,349,549 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.