The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 81.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,775 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 29,104 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $15,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 28,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,978,433. This represents a 4.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $276.59.

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Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $277.33 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $162.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $195.57 and a 12 month high of $287.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $255.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.33.

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 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, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

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.

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