Tremblant Capital Group Grows Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Tremblant Capital Group raised its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 20.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,161 shares during the quarter. Tremblant Capital Group’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank increased its holdings in Progressive by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Monument Capital Management increased its holdings in Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,298,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of PGR opened at $285.93 on Monday. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $167.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $261.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,759,663.84. The trade was a 0.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.