OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Invests $8.23 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 37,673 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,230,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $76,260,000. Allstate Corp increased its position in shares of Progressive by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 22,915 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,447,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $3,025,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $223.87 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $215.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $249.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.40 EPS. Progressive’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $476,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,583,637.50. This represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This trade represents 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $226.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Bank of America cut their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Seven equities 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.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.05.

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.