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

Bulldog Investors LLP boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 37.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. 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 made changes to their positions in the company. Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after buying an additional 22,915 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,447,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,807,068 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $411,506,000 after acquiring an additional 97,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Cleef Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 761,587 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $173,429,000 after acquiring an additional 9,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.05.

Progressive Price Performance

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

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

Progressive Company 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.