Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Cuts Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 13.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 346,096 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 54,370 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $66,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Allstate Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 106.1% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 22,915 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,836,094,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,807,068 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $411,506,000 after purchasing an additional 97,275 shares during the period. Investment House LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $8,447,000. Finally, Van Cleef Asset Management Inc increased its position in Progressive by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 761,587 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $173,429,000 after buying an additional 9,017 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.05.

Progressive Stock Up 0.9%

PGR stock opened at $207.73 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $208.77 and its 200 day moving average is $206.50. The stock has a market cap of $121.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $254.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.37 earnings per share. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total value of $236,907.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,633,152.36. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Progressive

Here are the key news stories impacting Progressive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reuters reported that Progressive’s quarterly profit rose on higher auto insurance demand, reinforcing the view that core underwriting and pricing trends remain healthy. Progressive’s quarterly profit rises on higher auto insurance demand
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary remains constructive after Q2, noting that Progressive continues to grow policies and remains a leading property and casualty insurer, which may help investor confidence. Progressive Is The P&C Insurer To Hold, After Policies Grow In Q2
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target to $308 and kept a buy rating, signaling optimism even though the target was trimmed slightly from prior levels. Progressive Given New $308.00 Price Target at Bank of America
• Neutral Sentiment: Other analysts also reduced their forecasts after the mixed Q2 report, but several still view the shares as fairly valued to modestly attractive from current levels. Progressive Analysts Slash Their Forecasts After Q2 Results
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets cut its price target to $205 and kept a market perform rating, reflecting a more cautious stance following the earnings release. BMO Capital Markets price target cut
• Negative Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods also lowered its target to $226 and maintained a market perform rating, adding to the post-earnings analyst headwinds. KBW price target cut

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.