The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Joseph Group Capital Management

Joseph Group Capital Management boosted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,346 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for about 1.1% of Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 541.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 90.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the third quarter worth approximately $230,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 30,748 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,803,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,255 shares of company stock valued at $16,877,471 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 1.6 %

PGR opened at $279.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $265.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $255.86.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.