Nykredit A S Acquires New Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Nykredit A S bought a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 192,321 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,013,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its holdings in Progressive by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 61,962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,536,000 after acquiring an additional 2,674 shares during the period. Sunburst Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,603 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Natural Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Natural Investments LLC now owns 2,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. SkyOak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $287,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $525,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $223.90 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $249.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $217.67 and a 200-day moving average of $207.71. The company has a market capitalization of $130.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Progressive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $240.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $769,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,370,900. The trade was a 7.59% 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. Insiders have sold 113,714 shares of company stock valued at $24,466,294 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.