Retireful LLC Acquires Shares of 2,686 The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Retireful LLC bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,686 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $644,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in Progressive during the third quarter worth $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $245.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $143.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $242.01. 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 Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $166.92 and a 1-year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.24.

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.