The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Position Increased by Mount Lucas Management LP

Mount Lucas Management LP raised its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,493 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 59 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Progressive were worth $633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Progressive by 548.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 811,653 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $167,866,000 after buying an additional 686,433 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,018,592,000 after purchasing an additional 670,006 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after purchasing an additional 594,330 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $222,207,000 after purchasing an additional 590,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $116,852,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. This represents a 13.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.56.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $255.78 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $252.22 and its 200-day moving average is $230.10. The company has a market cap of $149.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $149.14 and a 52-week high of $263.85.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current year.

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.