OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd Has $2.37 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 61.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 16,079 shares during the period. Progressive makes up approximately 3.2% of OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 16.5% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management increased its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Progressive by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 995 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $291.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $170.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $259.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.76.

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.