Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 55.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 371,370 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 132,400 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $73,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Progressive by 181.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,481,615,000 after acquiring an additional 4,197,212 shares during the period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 19,724.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,068,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $806,614,000 after acquiring an additional 4,048,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $313.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $237.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. This trade represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $231.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $135.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 0.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $203.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.63. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $261.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 2.03%.

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.