Empire Life Investments Inc. Buys 16,425 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Empire Life Investments increased its stake in Progressive by 26.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 16,425 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 78,801 shares worth about $17.9 million.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including Maribel Pumarejo and CIO Jonathan S. Bauer, with insiders selling 6,933 shares total over the last 90 days.
• Progressive reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $4.80 EPS versus estimates of $4.67, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average target price of $238.39.

Empire Life Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,801 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,425 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $17,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co boosted its position in shares of 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. boosted its position in shares of 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. The trade was a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.39.

Progressive Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:PGR opened at $198.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $116.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $191.75 and a fifty-two week high of $289.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.90.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.37 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.03%.

Progressive Company 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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