Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 221,596 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,595 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $53,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $255.03 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $269.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $256.73. The firm has a market cap of $149.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.29.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the firm’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 $142,324.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $969,024.07. The trade was a 12.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.