The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stake Raised by Washington Trust Bank

Washington Trust Bank grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,066 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Progressive were worth $255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 29.8% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,867,000 after acquiring an additional 3,498 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 20.5% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 391,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $99,290,000 after acquiring an additional 66,628 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 53,269 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 92.8% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,225,000 after buying an additional 18,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 6.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 470,394 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $119,367,000 after buying an additional 28,398 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.6 %

Progressive stock opened at $273.08 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $261.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $160.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 65,495 shares of company stock worth $16,668,034. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

Progressive Company Profile

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.