The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 14,946 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company has reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 3.6%, owning approximately 405,501 shares after selling 14,946 shares in the first quarter.
• Progressive's price target has been adjusted by several analysts; Jefferies Financial Group lowered it from $309.00 to $287.00, while Wells Fargo & Company reduced theirs from $330.00 to $327.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for October 2nd and payment scheduled for October 10th.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 405,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 14,946 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.07% of Progressive worth $114,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Progressive by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Progressive by 39,285.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $862,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038,303 shares in the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S grew its position in Progressive by 12,110.3% in the 1st quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $353,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Progressive by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,433,722,000 after purchasing an additional 915,643 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of 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 dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.18.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $337,299.10. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,733 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,958,001.74. This represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 108,351 shares of company stock worth $27,003,746. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $1.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $245.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,353,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,222,724. The company has a fifty day moving average of $249.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $228.54 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend 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.