Waterloo Capital L.P. Sells 384 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Waterloo Capital L.P. reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,323 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 384 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank increased its position 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. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its position 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. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.29.

Progressive Trading Down 10.4 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $257.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $269.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.74.

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 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%. Research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $142,324.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $969,024.07. This represents a 12.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company 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.