United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Acquires 14,538 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• United Super Pty Ltd increased its Progressive stake by 13% in the fourth quarter, buying 14,538 more shares and bringing its total holding to 126,374 shares valued at about $28.8 million.
• Wall Street remains mixed on Progressive: analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $238.11, while recent target cuts came from firms including Mizuho and Morgan Stanley.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected earnings of $4.80 per share for the quarter, though revenue missed estimates; the company also announced a $0.10 quarterly dividend payable July 10.

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund grew its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,374 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,538 shares during the quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's holdings in Progressive were worth $28,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 184,895 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $42,104,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Progressive by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 71,131 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $16,198,000 after purchasing an additional 21,529 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $250,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its position in Progressive by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 2,661 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ICW Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $293,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Mizuho lowered 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. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.11.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,857,776. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,928 shares of company stock valued at $831,251. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:PGR opened at $194.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $191.75 and a 1-year high of $289.96. The company's fifty day moving average price is $199.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.37 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.03%.

About Progressive

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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