HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 18,658 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 169,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,658 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $40,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $502,000. Natural Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $214,000. AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 81.6% in the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 64,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,521,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miller Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $552,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 0.7 %

PGR opened at $279.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.68. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $199.54 and a 52 week high of $287.49. The company has a market capitalization of $163.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 28,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,978,433. This represents a 4.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.82.

Progressive Company 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.