Primecap Management Co. CA Purchases New Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,003,280 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,167,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth about $76,260,000. Allstate Corp grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.1% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 22,915 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,447,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,025,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total value of $1,727,974.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,291 shares in the company, valued at $8,782,595.70. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 83,449 shares of company stock worth $17,685,203. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PGR. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Seven investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.05.

Progressive Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $221.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $128.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $216.29 and a 200-day moving average of $206.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $249.83.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Progressive Company 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.