Empire Life Investments Inc. Trims Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Empire Life Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,179 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,410 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Progressive by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 90.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after buying an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Progressive by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,069,697 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,882,000 after buying an additional 249,958 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $262.71 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $186.94 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The company has a market cap of $153.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $246.75.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.71.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last three months. 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.