The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Acquired by California State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System dramatically increased its Progressive stake by nearly 199 million shares in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 199.8 million shares valued at approximately $43.6 billion. Institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of the insurer.
• Progressive reported quarterly EPS of $5.67, exceeding estimates of $4.64, while revenue reached $23.61 billion versus expectations of $19.49 billion; revenue increased 5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $236.26 target price, while Progressive’s shares recently traded near $218.41. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, representing a 0.2% yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 23,059.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 199,767,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 198,904,705 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 34.36% of Progressive worth $43,639,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 235.1% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Progressive from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Evercore set a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $236.26.

Progressive Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $218.41 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $249.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $217.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.81. The company has a market capitalization of $126.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.01%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Griffith sold 37,338 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.50, for a total transaction of $8,195,691.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 485,438 shares in the company, valued at $106,553,641. The trade was a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total transaction of $1,727,974.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,782,595.70. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. 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 have sold a total of 113,714 shares of company stock worth $24,466,294 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Company 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.

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