Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Grows Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 110,044 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,600 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Progressive were worth $25,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after buying an additional 593,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after buying an additional 78,374 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.9% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,036,230,000 after buying an additional 197,603 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.39.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $199.60 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $116.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.58 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $192.02 and a 52 week high of $289.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $203.18 and a 200 day moving average of $212.01.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total transaction of $460,111.30. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $745,604.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,857,776. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.