Cibc World Market Inc. Raises Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 20.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 84,748 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,284 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $19,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Progressive by 78.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Progressive by 26.1% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $353,906,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $185,761,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PGR. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.11.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 4.6%

NYSE:PGR opened at $204.27 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $283.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $119.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

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.