Aubrey Capital Management Ltd Has $3.16 Million Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Aubrey Capital Management Ltd increased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 1.3% of Aubrey Capital Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Giverny Capital Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 2.9% during the third quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 501,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $69,849,000 after purchasing an additional 14,022 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 155,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $21,651,000 after buying an additional 7,268 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,788,000 after buying an additional 4,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $295,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of PGR stock traded down $2.04 on Friday, reaching $208.03. 2,628,749 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,796,081. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $111.41 and a one year high of $216.21. The company has a market cap of $121.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $202.45 and a 200-day moving average of $177.51.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.