Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 38,571 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 888.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,914 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 38,571 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $10,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Progressive by 90.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 7.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Progressive by 2,262.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $103,990,000 after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following 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 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $274.57. 2,911,344 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,431,730. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock's fifty day moving average is $262.72 and its 200 day moving average is $255.19. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $160.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

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, 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $281.06.

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.