Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Invests $172.24 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 788,481 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $172,244,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.14% of Progressive as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 235.1% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $222.36 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $216.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.04. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one 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. The firm has a market cap of $129.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 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. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given 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 yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $236.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.05.

Progressive 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.