Diversified Enterprises LLC Grows Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Diversified Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,375 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Diversified Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.76.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $283.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $258.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.03. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $287.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,922.70. The trade was a 23.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. 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.