Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 882,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 136,231 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $201,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,836,094,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $192.95 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $289.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.81, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $199.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $209.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.37 EPS. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.36 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 3,928 shares of company stock worth $831,251 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.11.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.