International Assets Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 12,144.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 367,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 364,929 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Progressive worth $58,605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Giverny Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2.9% during the third quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 501,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $69,849,000 after acquiring an additional 14,022 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,263,862 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $176,056,000 after purchasing an additional 47,658 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 155,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $21,651,000 after purchasing an additional 7,268 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $295,000. Finally, Bensler LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 50,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,024,000 after buying an additional 5,848 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $211.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.58 billion, a PE ratio of 32.07, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $111.41 and a 52-week high of $212.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.53. Progressive had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 6.28%. The firm had revenue of $16.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 6.08%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 5,939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $1,005,116.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares in the company, valued at $78,821,329.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,629 shares of company stock valued at $8,348,176. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on Progressive from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $144.00 to $176.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $188.50.

About Progressive

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.