Prudential PLC Cuts Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Prudential PLC lowered its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 29.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 15,760 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Convergence Financial LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $684,000. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 125.2% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 16,461 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 9,153 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 162,456 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,995,000 after purchasing an additional 15,635 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 84,748 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,299,000 after purchasing an additional 14,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Progressive by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,503,026 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $342,269,000 after purchasing an additional 240,172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $204.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $119.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.87. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $283.95.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus raised Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.11.

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.