Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Increases Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 155.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,747 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Progressive by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.24.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE PGR opened at $243.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $142.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $250.53 and a 200 day moving average of $242.03. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $166.92 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Progressive Company 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.