AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Reduces Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 225,293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,957 shares during the period. Progressive comprises about 0.9% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $63,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $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 acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,199,142.56. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,651 shares of company stock valued at $12,017,780 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.59.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $288.59 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.82. 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 has a market cap of $169.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.