National Pension Service Has $141.12 Million Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

National Pension Service grew its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 885,979 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,598 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Progressive were worth $141,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Compass Ion Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 7,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,727 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $0.44 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $215.90. 1,840,001 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,599,587. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $205.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.74. The company has a market cap of $126.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $217.77.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company Profile

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.