Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Grows Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,135 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $21,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Progressive by 78.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Progressive by 26.1% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $353,906,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Progressive by 193.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,206,742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $502,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,454,111 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Six 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $231,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at $5,733,600. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 in the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $202.86 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $269.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $199.20 and its 200 day moving average is $207.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted 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 net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.37 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.