LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Trims Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 37.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,286 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 13,847 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $6,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 776 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,335,000. Impact Investors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Impact Investors Inc now owns 4,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 142,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,029,000 after acquiring an additional 15,678 shares during the period. Finally, Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,777,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $246.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $245.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.84. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $228.54 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. Progressive’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 130,045 shares of company stock worth $31,997,390. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $279.63.

Progressive Company Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.