The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Acquired by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake by 55.4% in the fourth quarter to 18,195 shares (worth $4.143 million), and institutional investors collectively own about 85.34% of Progressive, with Vanguard, State Street and Capital International among the largest holders.
• Company insiders have been net sellers — including CAO Carl G. Joyce and CIO Jonathan S. Bauer — totaling 6,933 shares sold (~$1.44 million) over the last 90 days, leaving insiders with roughly 0.32% ownership.
• Progressive beat EPS estimates with $4.80 per share for the quarter but missed revenue expectations ($22.19B vs. $23.51B); the company has a $114.5B market cap, P/E ~9.96, a $0.10 quarterly dividend (0.2% yield), and a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" with an average target of $238.39.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 55.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,195 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,485 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $4,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,584,067,000 after acquiring an additional 593,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Progressive by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Progressive by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Progressive by 26.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Progressive by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,036,230,000 after purchasing an additional 197,603 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,062.50. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $196.00 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $202.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $114.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96, a PEG ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $192.02 and a 1-year high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm'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 earned $4.37 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid 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 of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $259.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.39.

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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