Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Has $8.41 Million Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 63.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 35,093 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,670 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.76.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $265.45 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $273.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $257.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.70%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.