LVZ Inc. Acquires 279 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

LVZ Inc. boosted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,796 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the quarter. LVZ Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 17.1% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,308 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 301,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,614,000 after purchasing an additional 35,800 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 15.0% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,867 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,117,000 after acquiring an additional 5,205 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Progressive by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 65,471 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $16,614,000 after purchasing an additional 13,047 shares during the period. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the third quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 8,905 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,260,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $283.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $165.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $189.40 and a 1 year high of $287.49. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $251.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.90.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $14,102,075. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.59.

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.