PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Takes Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 29,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Argus upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $204.27 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $283.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.87.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.37 earnings per share. Progressive’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.