The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Bought by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 44.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,543 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,156 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Progressive were worth $6,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Progressive by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Progressive by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 2,012.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 767,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,546,000 after buying an additional 731,207 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in Progressive by 1,363.8% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 706,898 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $160,975,000 after buying an additional 658,607 shares during the period. Finally, Marshfield Associates increased its holdings in Progressive by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 1,577,453 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $389,552,000 after buying an additional 653,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Progressive Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $199.83 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $191.75 and a 1 year high of $289.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.31. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $201.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced 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. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PGR. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Six equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.39.

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.