Czech National Bank Raises Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 127,016 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,710 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Progressive were worth $30,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 20.9% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 16.5% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank grew its holdings in Progressive by 4.6% in 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 during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.24.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $235.57 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $251.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.61. The firm has a market cap of $138.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $164.98 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168 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.