DAVENPORT & Co LLC Increases Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,023 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,219 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 1,740 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB raised its stake in Progressive by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 211,064 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,063,000 after buying an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB raised its stake in Progressive by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 49,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,353,000 after buying an additional 3,663 shares in the last quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 2,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $3,416,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,857,776. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $150,201.75. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 11,687 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,044 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 2.2%

PGR opened at $198.41 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $197.92 and a one year high of $289.96. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $116.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.65.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 payout ratio is 2.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $214.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Argus upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $239.22.

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.