9,750 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Acquired by Guild Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Guild Investment Management bought a new stake of 9,750 shares in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) during Q4, valued at roughly $2.22 million and representing 1.6% of the fund’s portfolio (its 21st-largest holding).
• Institutional ownership is high at 85.34%, with several funds — including Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, Allstate, Gateway Investment Advisers, Mather Group and Arkadios Wealth Advisors — materially increasing their positions recently.
• Analysts give PGR an average consensus rating of "Hold" with a consensus target price of $238.39, based on 6 Buys, 14 Holds and 2 Sells.

Guild Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,750 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,220,000. Progressive accounts for 1.6% of Guild Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Progressive by 30.2% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,381,000 after purchasing an additional 23,833 shares during the period. Allstate Corp boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1,614.1% during the third quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 21,598 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,334,000 after buying an additional 20,338 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 91.7% in the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,710 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,892,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 16,840 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,159,000 after buying an additional 4,865 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 471.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 22,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,556,000 after buying an additional 18,558 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. William Blair cut shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.39.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 3,105 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total transaction of $634,506.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 26,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,363,983.15. The trade was a 10.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,687 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,044. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.1%

PGR stock opened at $195.14 on Monday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $204.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14, a PEG ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.34. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $192.02 and a fifty-two week 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.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.08%.

Progressive Profile

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.

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