The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. raised its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,511 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after acquiring an additional 641,943 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,024,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,102,000 after acquiring an additional 518,262 shares during the period. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $125,044,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $272.91 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $159.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $186.94 and a 12 month high of $275.52. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $249.74.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.12.

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.