Capital International Investors Purchases 322,652 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Capital International Investors grew its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,327,453 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 322,652 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 0.91% of Progressive worth $1,276,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,566,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,054 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,044,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 55.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 99.0% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $265.45 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $155.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $273.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.76. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.70%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive 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 directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.76.

Progressive 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.