Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Announces Earnings Results

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.95, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.25 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.40 EPS.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR traded down $18.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $208.26. The stock had a trading volume of 735,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,257,958. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.60, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.26. Progressive has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $254.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $208.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.80.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction of $1,514,310.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock valued at $3,165,817. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Progressive by 181.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,481,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,197,212 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $303,218,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,375,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,151 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,909,426 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $434,815,000 after purchasing an additional 683,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 92.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,267,396 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $288,609,000 after purchasing an additional 610,168 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.74.

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.