Principal Securities Inc. Buys New Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 16,475 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,624,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TIAA Trust National Association bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $847,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $228,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $73,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 22,543 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,140,000 after purchasing an additional 2,187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. HSBC increased their price objective on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $215.76. 2,128,384 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,818,094. The company has a market capitalization of $126.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $111.41 and a 52-week high of $217.77. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $206.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.64.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. Progressive's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive's payout ratio is 4.09%.

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.