Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd Invests $353.91 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,554,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $353,906,000. Progressive makes up approximately 2.5% of Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Progressive by 30.2% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,381,000 after acquiring an additional 23,833 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in Progressive by 36.9% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 19,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,752,000 after acquiring an additional 5,184 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 19.9% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 629,095 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $155,355,000 after acquiring an additional 104,563 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 7.9% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 644,636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $159,183,000 after acquiring an additional 47,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,807,068 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $411,506,000 after acquiring an additional 97,275 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $199.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13, a PEG ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 0.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $200.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.22. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $191.75 and a 1-year high of $289.96.

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. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.36 EPS for the current 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%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was 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 approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.11.

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.