The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,680 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $15,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 10.9% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,034,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Progressive by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 18,371 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Progressive by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 113.8% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth about $244,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $272.91 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $186.94 and a 1-year high of $275.52. The company has a market cap of $159.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $249.74.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.12.

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.