The Progressive Corporation $PGR Stake Raised by Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt

Key Points

• Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 30.2% to 694,800 shares (about $158.23M), and institutional investors now own 85.34% of the company.
• Progressive's latest quarter delivered an EPS beat ($4.80 vs. $4.67 est.) but revenue missed at $22.19B, with a 12.92% net margin and a 33.47% return on equity.
• Wall Street's consensus is a "Hold" (6 Buy, 14 Hold, 2 Sell) with an average price target of $238.39 after several recent downward revisions by analysts.

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 694,800 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 161,200 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt owned 0.12% of Progressive worth $158,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after acquiring an additional 593,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after acquiring an additional 78,374 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.9% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,036,230,000 after acquiring an additional 197,603 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $259.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.39.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.3%

Progressive stock opened at $197.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $115.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.52 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. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $202.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.64.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.37 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.03%.

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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