Navellier & Associates Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 58.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,118 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,524 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises 1.7% of Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $13,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.12.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $265.99 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $246.89 and its 200 day moving average is $248.87. 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 1 year low of $186.94 and a 1 year high of $270.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.