National Pension Service Lowers Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

National Pension Service reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,334,312 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 115,045 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Progressive were worth $285,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Progressive by 78.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $353,906,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Progressive by 2,012.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 767,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,546,000 after purchasing an additional 731,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Progressive by 1,363.8% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 706,898 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $160,975,000 after purchasing an additional 658,607 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 1.1%

PGR stock opened at $194.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $191.75 and a one year high of $289.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $199.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $209.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PGR. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $259.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 3,928 shares of company stock worth $831,251 in the last 90 days. 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.