The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Acquired by Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension

Key Points

• Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension increased its stake in Progressive by 19.6% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 122,868 shares worth about $24.4 million.
• Progressive reported Q1 earnings of $4.80 per share, topping analyst estimates, though revenue of $22.19 billion came in below expectations. The company also posted strong profitability, with a 33.47% return on equity.
• The stock has attracted mixed analyst views: the consensus rating remains Hold with an average price target of $238.05, while insiders recently sold shares and the company paid a small quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 19.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,868 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 20,111 shares during the quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension's holdings in Progressive were worth $24,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 556,076 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $110,237,000 after purchasing an additional 16,601 shares in the last quarter. Triglav Investments D.O.O. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Triglav Investments D.O.O. now owns 28,800 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,709,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 12,115 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,402,000 after acquiring an additional 2,654 shares during the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 72.7% during the first quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 32,930 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,528,000 after purchasing an additional 13,857 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $55,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total transaction of $236,907.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,633,152.36. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817 in the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $234.84 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $254.93. The company has a market cap of $137.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $207.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.81.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.37 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGR. UBS Group increased their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Progressive from $210.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Progressive from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.05.

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.

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