Gabelli Funds LLC Invests $1.63 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,174 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,634,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 106.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in Progressive by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co increased its position in shares of Progressive by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 833.3% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 168 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their target price on Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays set a $247.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of PGR opened at $199.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $116.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.13, a P/E/G ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $200.46 and a 200 day moving average of $210.22. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $191.75 and a 52-week high of $289.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.03%.

About Progressive

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.