Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 30,600 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,339,494 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 30,600 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $265,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 7,463 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 0.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Key Progressive News

Here are the key news stories impacting Progressive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reuters reported that Progressive’s quarterly profit rose on higher auto insurance demand, reinforcing the view that core underwriting and pricing trends remain healthy. Progressive’s quarterly profit rises on higher auto insurance demand
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary remains constructive after Q2, noting that Progressive continues to grow policies and remains a leading property and casualty insurer, which may help investor confidence. Progressive Is The P&C Insurer To Hold, After Policies Grow In Q2
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target to $308 and kept a buy rating, signaling optimism even though the target was trimmed slightly from prior levels. Progressive Given New $308.00 Price Target at Bank of America
• Neutral Sentiment: Other analysts also reduced their forecasts after the mixed Q2 report, but several still view the shares as fairly valued to modestly attractive from current levels. Progressive Analysts Slash Their Forecasts After Q2 Results
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets cut its price target to $205 and kept a market perform rating, reflecting a more cautious stance following the earnings release. BMO Capital Markets price target cut
• Negative Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods also lowered its target to $226 and maintained a market perform rating, adding to the post-earnings analyst headwinds. KBW price target cut

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $217.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.05.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total transaction of $236,907.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,633,152.36. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,877,376.18. This trade represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.9%

PGR opened at $207.73 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $254.93. The company has a market cap of $121.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $208.77 and a 200 day moving average of $206.50.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.38 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.01%.

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.