The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Position Boosted by Smith Group Asset Management LLC

Smith Group Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,692 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Progressive by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 84.3% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after acquiring an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 9.5% during the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 7.0% during the third 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 worth $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.65.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $244.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $143.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $175.50 and a 1-year high of $270.62. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.25.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,506 shares of company stock worth $10,531,159 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.