Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Reduces Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lessened its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,447 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,217 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Progressive were worth $12,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank boosted its position in Progressive by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in Progressive by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monument Capital Management raised its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Progressive Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $272.49 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $264.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.49. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $159.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $16,877,471. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.