Banco Santander S.A. Has $18.60 Million Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 81,685 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $18,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $353,906,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $185,761,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PGR. Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $259.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 in the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $202.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.05. The company has a market cap of $118.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $269.84.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.37 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Progressive Company Profile

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.