Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. increased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 62.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the quarter. Harbert Fund Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Progressive by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Progressive by 2,262.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,069,697 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $255,882,000 after purchasing an additional 249,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,253,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $142,324.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $969,024.07. The trade was a 12.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $273.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $271.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $257.07. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.59.

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.