Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Raises Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 80.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 315,012 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,514 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.05% of Progressive worth $75,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Allianz SE bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $371,000. Cambridge Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,248,000. Intrust Bank NA lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 4,489 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,205,000. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 971 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $283.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $266.11 and its 200 day moving average is $256.15.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,255 shares of company stock valued at $17,250,271 in the last 90 days. Company 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.