The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Acquired by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

Key Points

• DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 8.3%, acquiring an additional 58,360 shares, bringing its total ownership to 762,179 shares.
• Progressive recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $4.45 for the quarter, which was below analysts' expectations of $5.04, alongside revenues of $21.38 billion, missing the expected $21.64 billion.
• The company's quarterly dividend of $0.10 was paid to stockholders, representing an annualized yield of 0.2%, while insiders sold a significant number of shares worth over $31 million in the last quarter.

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 762,179 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 58,360 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.13% of Progressive worth $200,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 12.0% during the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,489 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 17.0% during the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 673 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 5.6% during the second quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,408,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at $2,332,000. Finally, Wealthstream Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 23.8% during the second quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 1,062 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on Progressive from $350.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Progressive from $312.00 to $301.38 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $270.40.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $219.51 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $243.23 and its 200-day moving average is $257.43. The company has a market cap of $128.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $217.20 and a 12 month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total value of $1,555,052.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,679,806.24. This trade represents a 29.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 128,778 shares of company stock worth $31,683,756. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Progressive 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.

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