Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 397 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,441 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 397 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,034,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 10.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 18,371 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Progressive by 113.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $244,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 2.5 %

PGR stock opened at $272.91 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $249.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $186.94 and a twelve month high of $275.52.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.12.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company 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.