Employees Retirement System of Texas Acquires 18,250 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 112.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 34,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,250 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Progressive were worth $8,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $277.33 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $275.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $262.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 248,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,616,766.16. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 42,384 shares of company stock valued at $11,711,495. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price objective on Progressive and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.24.

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.