Sava Infond d.o.o. Makes New $1.80 Million Investment in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,803,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 67.1% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 20.1% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 541.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in Progressive by 638.4% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307 shares during the period. Finally, Associated Banc Corp bought a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $223,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $16,877,471 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.7 %

Progressive stock opened at $272.49 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $159.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $264.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 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%. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

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.