The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stake Reduced by NFC Investments LLC

NFC Investments LLC lowered its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 87,733 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 5.8% of NFC Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. NFC Investments LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $21,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th 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 shares of 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 period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $283.87 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $258.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $254.07. The stock has a market cap of $166.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $287.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on PGR. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. 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, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

Insider Activity

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,978,433. The trade was a 4.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.