Human Investing LLC Takes Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $63,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $3,390,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Progressive by 384.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP grew its position in Progressive by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 1,182 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, Monument Capital Management grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $262.71 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $244.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $247.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $186.94 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The company has a market capitalization of $153.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.71.

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.