Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Raises Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,673 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 242 shares during the quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 143.6% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.88.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8 %

Progressive stock traded up $1.58 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $208.25. 3,578,348 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,623,667. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $216.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

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.