Scotia Capital Inc. Has $2.74 Million Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Scotia Capital Inc. grew its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 33.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,890 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,498,363,000 after buying an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $1,843,045,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Progressive by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,521,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,323,018,000 after buying an additional 153,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Progressive by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0 %

PGR opened at $275.78 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $161.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $271.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $257.20.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.71.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. This trade represents a 2.69 % 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, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,759,663.84. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.