The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Bought by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 142.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 53,777 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 31,558 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $12,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Progressive by 60.4% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co grew its position in shares of Progressive by 48.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Argus raised Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. This trade represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $150,201.75. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $202.08 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $192.02 and a 1 year high of $289.96. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $203.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.80. The firm has a market cap of $118.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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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