SMART Wealth LLC Invests $295,000 in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

SMART Wealth LLC bought a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,164 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after purchasing an additional 641,943 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 29,701.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,325,000 after acquiring an additional 594,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $222,207,000 after purchasing an additional 590,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $775,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,626,840. This represents a 9.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total value of $1,964,096.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $3,876,384.69. The trade was a 33.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,839 shares of company stock worth $6,718,965 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.69.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $251.80 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $147.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $149.14 and a 52-week high of $270.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $253.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $237.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio 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.