USS Investment Management Ltd Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

USS Investment Management Ltd grew its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,446 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,073 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Progressive were worth $24,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.24.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $288.11 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $275.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $262.13.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given 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 (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,302,084.80. This trade represents a 4.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at $66,616,766.16. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

About Progressive

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.

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