Ted Buchan & Co Buys 1,272 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ted Buchan & Co grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,272 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises approximately 1.2% of Ted Buchan & Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Ted Buchan & Co’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after buying an additional 3,534 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Progressive by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,069,697 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $255,882,000 after buying an additional 249,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $35,253,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on PGR. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at $8,463,329.23. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $257.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $150.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $269.14 and a 200-day moving average of $256.74. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $201.34 and a one 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.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 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.