The Progressive Corporation $PGR Stock Position Reduced by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

Key Points

• TD Waterhouse Canada reduced its stake in Progressive by 38.4% in Q4, selling 4,929 shares and leaving it with 7,920 shares valued at $1.804 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently: Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares at an average $212 (about $745,604), and insiders sold 6,933 shares totaling $1,441,564 in the last 90 days (insiders own 0.32%).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed—six Buys, 14 Holds and two Sells with an average target of $238.39—and Progressive reported quarterly EPS of $4.80 (beat $4.67) while revenue of $22.19B missed expectations of $23.51B.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 38.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,920 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,929 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,667,528 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $13,500,146,000 after purchasing an additional 151,240 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Progressive by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,373,474,000 after acquiring an additional 78,374 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Progressive by 78.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,384,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Progressive by 26.1% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,757,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Progressive by 4.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,230,000 after acquiring an additional 197,603 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.39.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $205.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $120.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44, a PEG ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.34. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $192.02 and a one year high of $289.96. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $203.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

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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