Holowesko Partners Ltd. Acquires New Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Holowesko Partners Ltd. acquired a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 26,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,103,000. Progressive comprises about 2.1% of Holowesko Partners Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in Progressive by 106.6% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in Progressive by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $204.27 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $198.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.75. The stock has a market cap of $119.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $283.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling 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 value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Argus raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.11.

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.