PDS Planning Inc Boosts Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,003 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 325 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1ST Source Bank boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 1,256 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,562 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Trust co boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 12,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,947,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 84.0% during the 4th quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 892 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 28,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,978,433. The trade was a 4.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $291.69 on Tuesday. 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 Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $259.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $254.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.