Nordea Investment Management AB Buys 249,958 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 30.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,069,697 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 249,958 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.18% of Progressive worth $255,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Sachetta LLC increased its position in Progressive by 34.0% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $242.22 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $251.55 and its 200-day moving average is $240.50. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $161.56 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The firm has a market cap of $141.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,981 shares of company stock worth $5,816,178. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.94.

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.