Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Acquires 697,439 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 19.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,227,046 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 697,439 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $962,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of PGR opened at $193.54 on Thursday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $288.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.71 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $199.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.11.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Argus upgraded shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.