Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires Shares of 1,418,642 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,418,642 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $310,764,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. EFG International AG purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth about $241,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,436,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $219,167,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $172,244,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% 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. Insiders sold 83,449 shares of company stock worth $17,685,203 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $221.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $216.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.94. The company has a market capitalization of $128.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $249.83.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Mizuho set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.05.

Progressive Company 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.