Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $238.31 Million Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,045,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 93,856 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.18% of Progressive worth $238,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $353,906,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Progressive by 193.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,206,742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $502,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454,111 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $231,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at $5,733,600. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.11.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $204.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $119.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $267.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $199.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.60.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors 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 yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.03%.

About Progressive

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.