20,097 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Bought by North Dakota State Investment Board

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in Progressive, acquiring 20,097 shares worth about $4.58 million in the fourth quarter.
• Progressive continues to attract institutional interest, with hedge funds and other investors owning 85.34% of the stock, even as some company insiders recently sold shares.
• The insurer recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.80 per share, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share payable on July 10.

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 20,097 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,576,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 106.6% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Progressive by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co lifted its holdings in Progressive by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 162 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 833.3% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 168 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total transaction of $460,111.30. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,062.50. This trade represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.39.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $199.83 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $201.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $116.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16, a P/E/G ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $191.75 and a twelve month high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.03%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.