Cavalier Investments LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Cavalier Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for approximately 1.4% of Cavalier Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Cavalier Investments LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Progressive by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Progressive by 90.9% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Progressive by 7.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Progressive by 2,262.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its position in Progressive by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $278.62 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $247.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $250.14. The company has a market capitalization of $163.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. 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 $186.94 and a 52-week high of $279.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.59.

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.