The Progressive Corporation $PGR Holdings Lowered by New York State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 1.4% in Q4, selling 7,175 shares and now holding 494,220 shares valued at about $112.5 million.
• Several other institutions markedly increased positions (e.g., Capital International Investors +78.9% to 13.7M shares; Capital Research Global Investors +26.1% to 11.17M), and institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of the stock.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" with a $238.39 target after mixed price‑target cuts, while Progressive recently beat EPS estimates ($4.80 vs. $4.67) and pays a $0.10 quarterly dividend (0.2% yield).

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 494,220 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,175 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.08% of Progressive worth $112,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 78.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Progressive by 26.1% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Progressive by 2,012.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 767,549 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $189,546,000 after purchasing an additional 731,207 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Progressive by 1,363.8% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 706,898 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $160,975,000 after purchasing an additional 658,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 1,577,453 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $389,552,000 after purchasing an additional 653,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price 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. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total transaction of $460,111.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. The trade was a 7.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 value of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,857,776. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564 in the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $201.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $117.87 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.18 and a 200-day moving average of $212.38. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $192.02 and a 12 month high of $289.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Progressive Profile

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.