Raiffeisen Bank International AG Raises Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 15.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 140,459 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,332 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings in Progressive were worth $36,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,289,037,000 after purchasing an additional 622,590 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,513,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,128,055,000 after acquiring an additional 301,371 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after buying an additional 3,174,632 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Progressive by 15.2% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,338,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,828 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,380,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,805,642,000 after purchasing an additional 396,567 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Barclays cut their price objective on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $261.00 to $232.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $246.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $266.46.

Progressive Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of PGR opened at $225.23 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $132.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company’s fifty day moving average is $231.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.19. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $199.90 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total value of $556,230.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 45,724 shares in the company, valued at $11,466,664.72. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $295,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,389,460. The trade was a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 51,782 shares of company stock valued at $12,708,788. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.