PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Makes New $6.77 Million Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 29,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 106.6% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in Progressive by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $204.27 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $283.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $198.89 and its 200-day moving average is $208.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $119.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

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.