Eagle Global Advisors LLC Purchases 6,085 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Eagle Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,160 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,085 shares during the quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $10,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PGR. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. The trade was a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares in the company, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $283.98 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day moving average of $275.06 and a 200-day moving average of $259.61. The stock has a market cap of $166.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.70%.

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.