Erste Asset Management GmbH Has $158.86 Million Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 33.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 661,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 166,622 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for approximately 1.9% of Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Erste Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 0.11% of Progressive worth $158,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.2 %

PGR opened at $277.52 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $197.77 and a fifty-two week high of $287.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $256.53 and a 200-day moving average of $253.50. 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 $162.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price target on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 28,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,978,433. This trade represents a 4.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.