Ashford Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 3,074 The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ashford Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 3,074 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $780,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,263,763,000 after acquiring an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,669,204,000 after purchasing an additional 170,618 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Progressive by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,022,507,000 after buying an additional 92,212 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total value of $1,964,096.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,876,384.69. The trade was a 33.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,839 shares of company stock valued at $6,718,965. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $247.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $145.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $254.52 and its 200-day moving average is $235.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $149.14 and a 1-year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.69.

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.