Empire Life Investments Inc. Cuts Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Empire Life Investments Inc. cut its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,179 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,410 shares during the quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Spinnaker Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $510,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,410,527 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $337,976,000 after acquiring an additional 200,787 shares during the last quarter. Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $333,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 14,950 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,582,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 10,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,606,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $262.71 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $186.94 and a 52 week high of $270.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $153.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $244.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.75.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

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.