Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,242,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 265,039 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.38% of Progressive worth $537,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at $66,616,766.16. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,084.80. This represents a 4.56% 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 valued at $11,020,097 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Down 1.0%

PGR stock traded down $2.87 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $285.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,844,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,639,498. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.24.

Progressive 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.