The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 127.7% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 8,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 4,765 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aubrey Capital Management Ltd lifted its position in Progressive by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd now owns 19,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,155,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $215.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $126.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $204.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.31. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $216.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

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.