King Luther Capital Management Corp Has $447,000 Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,864 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 289 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $279.54 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $257.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.68. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $199.54 and a 12 month high of $287.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. 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 issued 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%. Analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.82.

Progressive 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.