The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by SageView Advisory Group LLC

SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $288.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $2,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,935,250. This trade represents a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $275.78 on Monday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $271.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $257.23. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $161.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

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.