Confluence Investment Management LLC Has $208.33 Million Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 869,434 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 31,826 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises 2.9% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $208,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 90.9% during 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. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Progressive by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its stake in Progressive by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Progressive by 7.0% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its stake in Progressive by 116.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 6,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,981 shares of company stock worth $5,816,178. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $239.85. The stock had a trading volume of 381,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,475,202. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $161.56 and a 12-month high of $270.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $251.70 and a 200-day moving average of $239.85. The company has a market capitalization of $140.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.91%.

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.