Raiffeisen Bank International AG Invests $29.63 Million in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 123,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,629,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total value of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at $66,616,766.16. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,248,922.70. This trade represents a 23.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $278.33 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $163.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $275.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $261.00.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.70%.

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.