Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,498 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 143.6% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Progressive 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 transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen started coverage on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

Progressive Trading Up 3.3 %

PGR stock traded up $6.79 during trading on Monday, hitting $215.51. The company had a trading volume of 2,173,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,603,140. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $111.41 and a one year high of $216.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $204.74 and a 200-day moving average of $180.31. The stock has a market cap of $126.22 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.09%.

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.