GQG Partners LLC Acquires 2,085,833 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 67.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises 1.8% of GQG Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. GQG Partners LLC owned approximately 0.88% of Progressive worth $1,239,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 67.1% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,490,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 71.6% during the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 7,076 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 541.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

PGR stock opened at $274.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $160.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $262.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,855 shares of company stock worth $16,767,455. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.