Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Progressive by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after buying an additional 2,666,449 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 31.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $666,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,591 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 102.9% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,131,601 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $296,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,834 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth about $88,528,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,484,903 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $206,847,000 after purchasing an additional 569,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. HSBC boosted their price target on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.88.

Progressive Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $215.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $126.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a PEG 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $204.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.31.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

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.