The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Bought by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 238,970 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $54,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $353,906,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $185,761,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Mizuho cut their price target on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $204.27 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $283.95. The stock has a market cap of $119.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $198.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

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.