Man Group plc Acquires New Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 157,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,324,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,267,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $981,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total value of $268,765.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 31,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,857,785.80. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,449 shares of company stock worth $17,685,203. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.1%

PGR opened at $222.36 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $129.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $249.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $216.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.04.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st 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, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.05.

About Progressive

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.