TCW Group Inc. Makes New Investment in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

TCW Group Inc. bought a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,538 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,988,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Progressive by 14.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,002,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,449 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Progressive by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,935,652 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,378,951,000 after purchasing an additional 520,742 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $1,078,831,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,982,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $833,410,000 after buying an additional 162,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.9% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,641,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $785,814,000 after buying an additional 156,332 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. HSBC upped their price target on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $203.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,721,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,403,198. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.41. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $217.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total transaction of $1,525,567.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,357,996.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total transaction of $1,525,567.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,357,996.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,825 shares of company stock valued at $3,337,741 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.