SageView Advisory Group LLC Increases Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after buying an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $1,843,045,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Progressive by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,521,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,323,018,000 after acquiring an additional 153,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $288.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.71.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $275.78 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $271.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $257.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $142,324.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,983 shares in the company, valued at $969,024.07. This represents a 12.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at $75,759,663.84. The trade was a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company 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.