Korea Investment CORP Buys 122,519 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 38.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 444,104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 122,519 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Progressive were worth $101,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in Progressive by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 81,685 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $18,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 292,122 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $66,522,000 after purchasing an additional 4,391 shares in the last quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,361,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 702.9% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 44,787 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,199,000 after purchasing an additional 39,209 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $231,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at $5,733,600. This trade represents a 3.88% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PGR opened at $202.86 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $199.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $118.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $189.20 and a twelve month high of $269.84.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Bank of America cut their target price on Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Argus upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.11.

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.