Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 2,967 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 294,617 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,967 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Progressive were worth $67,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Capital International Investors raised its position in Progressive by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Progressive by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 2,012.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 767,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,546,000 after acquiring an additional 731,207 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 1,577,453 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $389,552,000 after acquiring an additional 653,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $154,257,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $150,201.75. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 11,687 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,044 in the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $203.62 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $192.02 and a fifty-two week high of $289.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $203.47 and a 200 day moving average of $214.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $119.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.35, a PEG ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.37 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.