7,200 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Bought by McHugh Group LLC

McHugh Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,200 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,725,000. Progressive makes up about 1.3% of McHugh Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $248.99 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $245.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.32. 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 firm has a market cap of $145.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $179.90 and a 1 year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 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 value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by 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.