The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Bought by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs increased its stake in Progressive by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, ending with 4.23 million shares valued at about $962.6 million.
• Progressive reported Q1 earnings of $4.80 per share, topping estimates, though revenue of $22.19 billion came in below expectations. The company also posted strong profitability metrics, including a 33.47% return on equity.
• The insurer declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable July 10, while Wall Street currently holds a “Hold” consensus on the stock with an average price target of $238.11.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,227,046 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 697,439 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.72% of Progressive worth $962,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 30.2% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,381,000 after buying an additional 23,833 shares during the period. Allstate Corp boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $10,136,000 after buying an additional 22,915 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 36.9% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 19,240 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,752,000 after buying an additional 5,184 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Finally, Mariner LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 7.9% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 644,636 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $159,183,000 after buying an additional 47,248 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $193.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $113.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84, a PEG ratio of 5.71 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $288.35. 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 fifty day moving average price of $199.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.11.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.11.

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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