Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 653,499 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,083 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $156,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,308 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,622 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $130,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,638 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,525 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $14,102,075 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $281.84 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $191.00 and a 12 month high of $287.49. The stock has a market cap of $165.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $252.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.59.

About Progressive

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.