Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,147 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,127 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compass Ion Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 7,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 10.2% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Progressive by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,727 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. HSBC upped their target price on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.88.

Progressive Trading Up 0.3 %

Progressive stock opened at $209.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $111.41 and a one year high of $212.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $199.28 and its 200 day moving average is $174.57.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.09%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.