Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 35,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,639,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter worth $31,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $196.56.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock traded up $1.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $203.90. 5,368,049 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,779,024. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.90. The firm has a market cap of $119.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $212.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 6.28%. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 5,939 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total transaction of $1,005,116.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 465,737 shares in the company, valued at $78,821,329.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 5,939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total transaction of $1,005,116.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,821,329.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total transaction of $93,251.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,725,350.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 44,629 shares of company stock worth $8,348,176. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive 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.