Passumpsic Savings Bank Invests $3.49 Million in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 14,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,487,000. Progressive accounts for 2.2% of Passumpsic Savings Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 16.5% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in Progressive by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management increased its stake in Progressive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Bank increased its stake in Progressive by 4.6% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $265.99 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $186.94 and a 1 year high of $270.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $246.89 and its 200-day moving average is $248.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGR. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.12.

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.