National Pension Service Acquires 87,898 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Progressive Corporation by 6.9% during Q1, owning 1,354,070 shares valued at approximately $383 million.
• Progressive recently reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.45, despite a decline in revenue compared to expectations.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share on October 10th, representing an annual yield of 0.2%.

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,354,070 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 87,898 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.23% of Progressive worth $383,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 210.0% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded up $2.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $251.19. 4,574,102 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,178,978. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $253.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.33. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $228.54 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PGR. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $312.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI cut shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total transaction of $1,509,141.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,844 shares in the company, valued at $6,742,703.04. The trade was a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,191 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $795,324.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 37,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,465,387.48. This represents a 7.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,250 shares of company stock worth $26,332,348. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.