Bulldog Investors LLP Grows Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Bulldog Investors LLP grew its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 37.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Bulldog Investors LLP’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after acquiring an additional 593,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,398,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,527 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,375,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,836,094,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $212.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $209.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $254.93.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.05.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total transaction of $236,907.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,633,152.36. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 15,230 shares of company stock valued at $3,165,817 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.