The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Position Increased by Crestwood Advisors Group LLC

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in Progressive by 1,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 2.2 %

Progressive stock opened at $278.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $163.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $186.94 and a 1-year high of $279.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a 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.