Passumpsic Savings Bank Acquires New Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,487,000. Progressive accounts for 2.2% of Passumpsic Savings Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Progressive by 21.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Progressive by 75.3% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 29,701.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after buying an additional 594,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Progressive by 102.3% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,024,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,102,000 after buying an additional 518,262 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6 %

PGR stock opened at $265.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $186.94 and a 1 year high of $270.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.87. The firm has a market cap of $155.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective 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. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.12.

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.