KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Sells 22,100 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS trimmed its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 227,068 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 22,100 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Progressive were worth $51,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Liberty One Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 1,291 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 279 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 1,111 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 7,463 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $207.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $203.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.91. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $192.02 and a 1-year high of $289.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $121.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of Progressive 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564. 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.