Parnassus Investments LLC Acquires 8,775 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 455,850 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,775 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $103,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 78.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 26.1% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $353,906,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $185,761,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the business’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 $231,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,733,600. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on PGR shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Argus upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Bank of America cut their target price on Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $202.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $199.01 and its 200 day moving average is $208.09. The firm has a market cap of $118.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $269.84.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

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.