69,461 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Acquired by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 69,461 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,644,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th 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. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $291.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $254.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their target price on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.