Invesco Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,521,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 153,044 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.94% of Progressive worth $1,323,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Down 10.4 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $257.27 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $269.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.73. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $150.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

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%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $142,324.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,983 shares in the company, valued at $969,024.07. This trade represents a 12.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,463,329.23. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive 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.