Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. Purchases 1,250 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 62.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,250 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Harbert Fund Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $3.21 during trading on Monday, reaching $278.85. 2,486,410 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,645,737. 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 company has a market capitalization of $163.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $271.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.23.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid 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 was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $142,324.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $969,024.07. The trade was a 12.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were 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 owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.71.

About Progressive

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.