Schroder Investment Management Group Buys 118,802 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 918,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 118,802 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Progressive were worth $220,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in Progressive by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Monument Capital Management raised its holdings in Progressive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $279.13 on Friday. 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 cap of $163.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $265.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.86.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,255 shares of company stock valued at $16,877,471 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Profile

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.