The Progressive Corporation $PGR Stock Position Boosted by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 9.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 823,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,395 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Progressive were worth $163,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 235.1% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 106.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Progressive from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.37.

Progressive Trading Up 2.7%

Progressive stock traded up $6.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $237.86. The stock had a trading volume of 794,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,291,848. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $189.20 and a twelve month high of $254.93. 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 cap of $138.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.60.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock valued at $3,165,817. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.