The Progressive Corporation $PGR Stake Lifted by Giverny Capital Inc.

Giverny Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 536,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,943 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for about 4.1% of Giverny Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Giverny Capital Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $122,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 78.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,384,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $353,906,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 193.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,206,742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $502,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,454,111 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $202.86 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $199.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 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 Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $269.84.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.37 EPS. Progressive’s quarterly 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 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. Investors 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 currently 2.03%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the company’s 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 $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 company’s 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 $231,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,733,600. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355. Corporate 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.