Handelsbanken Fonder AB Cuts Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 199,953 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,353 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Progressive were worth $43,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Progressive by 181.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,481,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,197,212 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 19,724.0% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,068,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $806,614,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048,351 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $353,906,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $212.22 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 Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $254.93. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. HSBC raised their price objective on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive 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 owned 22,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,877,376.18. This trade represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 74,885 shares of company stock valued at $15,880,459 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.