Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. Invests $6.22 Million in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 21,971 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,218,000. Progressive accounts for approximately 6.0% of Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Archer Investment Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 295.1% during the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,102 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 1,570 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its stake in Progressive by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 51,770 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $13,066,000 after acquiring an additional 15,512 shares in the last quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $2,143,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Progressive by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,199 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,881,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 39,693 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $9,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 target price on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 238,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $479,391.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,546,174.02. This trade represents a 5.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,651 shares of company stock worth $12,017,780. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock traded down $2.30 on Wednesday, hitting $284.95. 1,068,007 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,644,973. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.70%.

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.