The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,919 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,229 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $16,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after buying an additional 315,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PGR. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $279.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $265.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $255.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction 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 $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,255 shares of company stock valued at $14,490,871. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.