Clearbridge Investments LLC Grows Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 290,629 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,539 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $66,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Progressive by 30.2% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,381,000 after buying an additional 23,833 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp increased its holdings in Progressive by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after buying an additional 22,915 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in Progressive by 36.9% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 19,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,752,000 after buying an additional 5,184 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $1,836,094,000. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 7.9% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 644,636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $159,183,000 after buying an additional 47,248 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $200.33 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $278.71. The stock has a market cap of $117.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.28. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $198.84 and a 200 day moving average of $208.58.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company 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%. Progressive’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $231,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at $5,733,600. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 in the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.