AIA Group Ltd Cuts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

AIA Group Ltd lessened its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 137,669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 15,248 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $32,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 90.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,069,697 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $255,882,000 after acquiring an additional 249,958 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of PGR opened at $279.13 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $163.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $265.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % 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 dated 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 directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,255 shares of company stock worth $14,490,871. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

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.