Legal & General Group Plc Grows Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 197,603 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,036,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in Progressive during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 450.0% during the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $206.70 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $208.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.48. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $197.92 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $121.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 9.19 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $257.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Argus upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Mizuho set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $245.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,857,776. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 3,105 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total value of $634,506.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 26,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,363,983.15. The trade was a 10.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 12,761 shares of company stock worth $2,659,420 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.