AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Sells 821,435 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 98.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 821,435 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Progressive by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,381,000 after buying an additional 23,833 shares during the period. Allstate Corp grew its stake in Progressive by 1,614.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 21,598 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,334,000 after acquiring an additional 20,338 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Progressive by 471.3% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 22,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,556,000 after acquiring an additional 18,558 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Progressive by 36.9% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 19,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,752,000 after acquiring an additional 5,184 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth approximately $64,063,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $199.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $116.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.50. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $191.75 and a one year high of $289.96. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $259.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Argus raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.39.

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.