Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,242,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 265,039 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Progressive were worth $537,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $285.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $275.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $261.55. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays upped their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.65.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.