Valmark Advisers Inc. Has $659,000 Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGRFree Report) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 405 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Creative Planning raised its stake in Progressive by 14.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 70,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,876,000 after purchasing an additional 9,114 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 11.9% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 34.8% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 7.4% in the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $2,538,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.71.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Progressive

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $262.71 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.54. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $186.94 and a one year high of $270.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGRGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Progressive Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Progressive (NYSE:PGR)

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