iA Global Asset Management Inc. Buys 1,677 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,863 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,677 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their target price on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at $75,759,663.84. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,495 shares of company stock worth $16,668,034 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

PGR stock opened at $274.52 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $261.21 and its 200-day moving average is $254.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

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.