HUB Investment Partners LLC Boosts Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 156.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,245 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,370 shares during the quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Progressive by 888.1% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 42,914 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,282,000 after purchasing an additional 38,571 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,863 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,041,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,517 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,635,000 after buying an additional 7,866 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 351,507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $84,225,000 after buying an additional 50,755 shares during the period. Finally, GM Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $571,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. 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 report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $273.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $160.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $261.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $254.99. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $479,391.36. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares in the company, valued at $7,546,174.02. The trade was a 5.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,495 shares of company stock valued at $16,668,034 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

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.