AMF Tjanstepension AB Purchases 77,358 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 62.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 202,028 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,358 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Progressive were worth $53,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,289,037,000 after purchasing an additional 622,590 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 61.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,362,039,000 after buying an additional 3,174,632 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 15.2% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,338,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,828 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 6.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,380,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,805,642,000 after acquiring an additional 396,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at about $1,473,180,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at $56,832,701.76. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 130,045 shares of company stock valued at $31,997,390. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets set a $252.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Progressive in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $279.63.

Progressive Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of PGR opened at $246.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $228.54 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a market cap 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.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

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.