Cadence Bank Cuts Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Cadence Bank reduced its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,606 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 57 shares during the quarter. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth about $2,566,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,054 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,044,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Progressive by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 3.5 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $265.45 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $155.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $273.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,463,329.23. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $289.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.76.

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.