Advisors Asset Management Inc. Acquires 4,468 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,708 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,468 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 3,003 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 1,256 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,562 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,010,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,378 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co grew its holdings in Progressive by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 12,299 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,947,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, HSBC cut Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $274.07. 2,553,247 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,433,884. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $261.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $255.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued 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 is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,855 shares of company stock worth $16,767,455 in the last 90 days. Company 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.