Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Buys 29,196 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7,429.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,589 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,196 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 143.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Progressive Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of PGR stock traded down $2.29 during trading on Thursday, reaching $209.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 202,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,588,889. The company has a market capitalization of $122.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $216.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $201.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.83.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

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.