BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Has $26.87 Million Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,150 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,422 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Progressive were worth $26,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monument Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America raised Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 target price on Progressive and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.24.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR traded up $0.21 on Friday, reaching $277.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,677,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,645,186. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $275.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $262.86. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $162.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm 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 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total value of $691,398.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. The trade was a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,384 shares of company stock worth $11,711,495. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.