Tredje AP fonden Purchases 29,856 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Tredje AP fonden increased its stake in Progressive by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 29,856 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 174,856 shares worth about $39.8 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other institutional investors owning 85.34% of Progressive’s stock; several other funds also added to their positions during the period.
• Progressive beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $4.80 versus the $4.67 estimate, while revenue rose 6.5% year over year. Analysts currently have an overall “Hold” rating on the stock with an average price target of $238.39.

Tredje AP fonden raised its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 20.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 174,856 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 29,856 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in Progressive were worth $39,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Progressive by 105.8% in the 4th quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 539,475 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $122,849,000 after acquiring an additional 277,354 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 23,103 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,261,000 after purchasing an additional 5,575 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 131,465 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,937,000 after purchasing an additional 5,298 shares in the last quarter. Verde Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Verde Capital Management now owns 18,502 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.39.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $203.91 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $191.75 and a 1-year high of $289.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.31. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $200.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $4.37 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the sale, the executive owned 26,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. This trade represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive 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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