The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 783,283 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 236,687 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Progressive were worth $187,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Polymer Capital Management US LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $331,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 187,376 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,344,000 after acquiring an additional 27,170 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 221,596 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $53,097,000 after acquiring an additional 23,595 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in Progressive by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 186,595 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,710,000 after purchasing an additional 36,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Progressive by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,016,045 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $243,455,000 after purchasing an additional 144,108 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research report on Friday. UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.29.

Progressive Stock Down 1.0 %

PGR stock opened at $255.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $149.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $142,324.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $969,024.07. The trade was a 12.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,759,663.84. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Profile

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.