The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stake Boosted by RiverFront Investment Group LLC

RiverFront Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 971 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 73 shares during the quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Investment Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 17,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,195,000 after acquiring an additional 3,462 shares in the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS raised its stake in Progressive by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 146,592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,125,000 after purchasing an additional 43,937 shares during the period. Alerus Financial NA purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $4,130,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,624 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $4,194,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $16,877,471 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $279.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $265.32 and a 200-day moving average of $255.86. The firm has a market cap of $163.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Barclays upped their target price on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

Progressive Company Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.