The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Holdings Cut by BloombergSen Inc.

Key Points

• BloombergSen Inc. reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation to 667,416 shares, which now represent 11.7% of its portfolio, valuing the total at approximately $188.89 million.
• Progressive's stock recently rose by 1.1% to $250.22, with a market capitalization of $146.69 billion, while the company reported a quarterly EPS of $4.88, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• The company announced a dividend of $0.10 per share, with a yield of 0.15%, as well as a dividend payout ratio of 2.25%.

BloombergSen Inc. lowered its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 667,416 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 11,706 shares during the period. Progressive comprises 11.7% of BloombergSen Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. BloombergSen Inc. owned 0.11% of Progressive worth $188,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $1,843,045,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 39,285.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $862,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038,303 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Progressive by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S boosted its stake in Progressive by 12,110.3% in the 1st quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $353,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,402 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,433,722,000 after purchasing an additional 915,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $286.88.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $8.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $242.00. 1,783,041 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,245,583. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $264.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.28. The firm has a market cap of $141.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $208.13 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.54, for a total value of $313,633.18. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at $6,523,669.16. The trade was a 4.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total transaction of $1,041,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,750,829.82. This trade represents a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,972 shares of company stock valued at $9,078,681 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Company Profile

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.