California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 21.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,424,466 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 384,431 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.24% of Progressive worth $282,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allstate Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,136,000 after acquiring an additional 22,915 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $1,836,094,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,807,068 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $411,506,000 after purchasing an additional 97,275 shares during the period. Investment House LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $8,447,000. Finally, Van Cleef Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 761,587 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $173,429,000 after purchasing an additional 9,017 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $207.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $121.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $208.77 and a 200 day moving average of $206.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $254.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company’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, research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Progressive from $217.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.05.

More Progressive News

Here are the key news stories impacting Progressive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reuters reported that Progressive’s quarterly profit rose on higher auto insurance demand, reinforcing the view that core underwriting and pricing trends remain healthy. Progressive’s quarterly profit rises on higher auto insurance demand
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary remains constructive after Q2, noting that Progressive continues to grow policies and remains a leading property and casualty insurer, which may help investor confidence. Progressive Is The P&C Insurer To Hold, After Policies Grow In Q2
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target to $308 and kept a buy rating, signaling optimism even though the target was trimmed slightly from prior levels. Progressive Given New $308.00 Price Target at Bank of America
• Neutral Sentiment: Other analysts also reduced their forecasts after the mixed Q2 report, but several still view the shares as fairly valued to modestly attractive from current levels. Progressive Analysts Slash Their Forecasts After Q2 Results
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets cut its price target to $205 and kept a market perform rating, reflecting a more cautious stance following the earnings release. BMO Capital Markets price target cut
• Negative Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods also lowered its target to $226 and maintained a market perform rating, adding to the post-earnings analyst headwinds. KBW price target cut

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.