Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Buys 104,495 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 89.6% in Q1, owning 221,062 shares valued at approximately $62.6 million.
• Progressive reported a quarterly earnings per share of $4.88, surpassing estimates by $0.45, and year-over-year revenue growth of 12.1% to $20.08 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 0.2% and a dividend payout ratio of 2.25%.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 89.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 221,062 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 104,495 shares during the quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in Progressive were worth $62,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,426,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,893,000 after purchasing an additional 33,864 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 498.5% in the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $3,141,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 12,034 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,406,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.96, for a total value of $1,557,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 21,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,402,135.52. This represents a 22.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America cut their price target on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.18.

Progressive Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of PGR traded down $5.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $243.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,690,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,637,555. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $228.54 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $247.98 and a 200 day moving average of $265.58. The company has a market cap of $142.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.25%.

About Progressive

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.