Schroder Investment Management Group Increases Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 918,230 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 118,802 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.16% of Progressive worth $220,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of PGR stock traded down $2.91 on Wednesday, reaching $281.38. 2,694,043 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,588,965. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $266.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $256.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G 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 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

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Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PGR. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. The trade was a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $479,391.36. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 26,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,546,174.02. This trade represents a 5.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,255 shares of company stock valued at $17,250,271. Company insiders own 0.33% 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.