Erste Asset Management GmbH Raises Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 33.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 661,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 166,622 shares during the period. Progressive makes up about 1.9% of Erste Asset Management GmbH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Progressive were worth $158,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versor Investments LP increased its position in shares of Progressive by 200.5% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 3,005 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 11.9% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 0.9% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 77,756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,731,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 642.0% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 371 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter valued at approximately $593,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.59.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PGR opened at $277.52 on Thursday. 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 Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $197.77 and a 12-month high of $287.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $256.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.50.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

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.