Hsbc Holdings PLC Invests $310.76 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,418,642 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $310,764,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.24% of Progressive as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,267,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.4% in the second quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $769,780.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at $9,370,900. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $221.77 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $216.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.94. The company has a market cap of $128.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $249.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

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.