The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Purchased by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 4.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,905 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 723 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.8% during the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,582,012 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $447,725,000 after acquiring an additional 28,036 shares during the period. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd acquired a new position in Progressive during the first quarter worth $5,772,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in Progressive by 153.7% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 5,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 3,165 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its holdings in Progressive by 11.2% during the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 29,246 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 84.5% in the first quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 15,689 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,440,000 after purchasing an additional 7,185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,346 shares in the company, valued at $8,061,917.04. This trade represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,351 shares of company stock valued at $27,003,746 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Citigroup assumed coverage on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $312.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.18.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $245.01 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $228.54 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $250.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.20. The company has a market capitalization of $143.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.25%.

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.