Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 746,017 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,610 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $189,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Nwam LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 27.2% during the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,951,000. Alera Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $245,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,245.9% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 348,372 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,036,000 after buying an additional 337,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 157,184 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,509,000 after buying an additional 2,278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 6,122 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.19, for a total value of $1,439,833.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,600,400.04. The trade was a 15.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at $119,475,967. This trade represents a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,331 shares of company stock valued at $16,415,812 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.56.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $255.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $149.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $252.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.82. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $149.14 and a twelve month high of $263.85.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Profile

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.