Ascent Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,842 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,016 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $8,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its position in Progressive by 40.4% during the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 238,250 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $57,132,000 after acquiring an additional 68,589 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 100.3% during the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,541 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $875,000 after buying an additional 1,773 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 295.1% during the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,102 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its holdings in Progressive by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 51,770 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $13,066,000 after purchasing an additional 15,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivid Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,143,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.81, for a total transaction of $351,985.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,888 shares in the company, valued at $8,025,375.28. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 238,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,544,668.88. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 43,651 shares of company stock worth $12,017,780. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price objective on Progressive and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.59.

Progressive Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $5.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $282.34. 1,099,400 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,977,924. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The company's 50 day moving average price is $275.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.38. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Progressive 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.