The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) is JLB & Associates Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

JLB & Associates Inc. lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 90,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,516 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for approximately 2.9% of JLB & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $21,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 54.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.12.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $267.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $246.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.49. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $186.94 and a 52-week high of $270.79. The firm has a market cap of $156.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.5 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

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.