Public Sector Pension Investment Board Increases Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 76.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 213,340 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 92,678 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Progressive were worth $52,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,516,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,548,217,000 after acquiring an additional 493,332 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,513,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,128,055,000 after purchasing an additional 301,371 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Progressive by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,928,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709,417 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth $2,156,939,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.1% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,129,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,101,883,000 after purchasing an additional 42,909 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,323,176.42. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 3,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total transaction of $634,506.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,363,983.15. The trade was a 10.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,443 shares of company stock valued at $2,723,061 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Evercore reduced their price objective on Progressive from $250.00 to $237.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group set a $226.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research cut Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Progressive from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Progressive from $240.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.35.

Progressive Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE PGR opened at $205.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $120.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $197.92 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.08%.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.