Vontobel Holding Ltd. Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,117 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 14.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,002,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,449 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.3% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,754,850 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,291,249,000 after acquiring an additional 403,527 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 10.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,916,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 655,706 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Progressive by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,721,345 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $871,826,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,665 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $840,885,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $209.12 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $198.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.33. The company has a market capitalization of $122.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $212.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

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.