Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 279.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 811,381 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 597,401 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Progressive worth $129,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 14.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,449 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 10.5% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,916,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 655,706 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Progressive by 2.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,982,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $833,410,000 after purchasing an additional 162,916 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.9% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,641,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $785,814,000 after purchasing an additional 156,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Progressive by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $666,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.88.

Progressive Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of PGR traded down $2.38 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $209.42. The company had a trading volume of 762,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,598,300. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $122.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $216.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

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.