The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Crestwood Advisors Group LLC

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Progressive by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $2,087,000. Black Diamond Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. C WorldWide Group Holding A S acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $2,450,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Progressive by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 147,670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,383,000 after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was 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 valued at $13,983,575 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays increased their price target on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.59.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $278.62 on Wednesday. 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 Progressive Co. has a one year low of $186.94 and a one year high of $279.93. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

About Progressive

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.