Q3 Asset Management Boosts Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Q3 Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,772 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up 1.8% of Q3 Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Q3 Asset Management’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 68,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $14,181,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 5.5% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Progressive by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 119,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,275,000 after purchasing an additional 7,696 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth about $249,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Progressive by 8.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 200,611 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $50,907,000 after purchasing an additional 16,188 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $246.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $176.37 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The stock has a market cap of $144.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $247.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.51.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 34.32%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

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.