Sciencast Management LP Increases Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sciencast Management LP boosted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,617 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PGR. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 65,495 shares of company stock worth $16,668,034. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $273.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $160.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $261.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.99. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be 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 is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Progressive Company 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.