Longboard Asset Management LP Purchases New Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Longboard Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,090 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000. Progressive comprises about 0.7% of Longboard Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. State Street Corp increased its position in Progressive by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after acquiring an additional 315,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after purchasing an additional 170,618 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 7.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Progressive by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PGR. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Progressive Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE PGR opened at $249.06 on Tuesday. 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 Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $179.90 and a 52 week high of $270.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $247.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.91. The company has a market cap of $145.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $2,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,935,250. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.