Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Purchases 1,122 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 46.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,517 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Progressive were worth $560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 143.6% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Progressive from $279.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,825 shares of company stock worth $3,337,741. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $203.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $119.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $208.92 and its 200-day moving average is $185.41. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $111.41 and a 52 week high of $217.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 4.09%.

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.