CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Raises Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 657,848 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,184 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.11% of Progressive worth $157,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $275.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $273.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $257.68.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS 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%. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.71.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.