Wedmont Private Capital Has $1.88 Million Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,983 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $235.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $251.23 and its 200-day moving average is $241.78. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $166.92 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. 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 report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.24.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Company 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.