Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Acquires 48,666 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Thornburg Investment Management increased its Progressive stake by 858.3% in the second quarter, purchasing 48,666 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 54,336 shares valued at $11.87 million. Institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of the insurer.
• Progressive exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.67 in earnings per share versus the $4.64 consensus and revenue of $23.61 billion versus estimates of $19.49 billion. Revenue rose 5% year over year, while net margin reached 12.84%.
• Analysts maintain a generally neutral view, with an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $236.26 compared with the stock’s $218.90 opening price. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, while insiders sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 858.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,336 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 48,666 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $11,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 235.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. HSBC upped their price objective on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $225.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $228.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $236.26.

Progressive Trading Up 0.6%

PGR stock opened at $218.90 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $249.83. The stock has a market cap of $127.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $217.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $769,780.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,370,900. This represents a 7.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $476,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,637.50. This trade represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

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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