Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Decreases Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lowered its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 723,181 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 143,086 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $164,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $259.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Mizuho decreased their target price on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE PGR opened at $202.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $118.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $269.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $199.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $231,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,733,600. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.