SG Americas Securities LLC Cuts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 93.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,455 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 819,205 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $13,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kelleher Financial Advisors boosted its position in Progressive by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 995 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Progressive by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 5,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in Progressive by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 936 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.65.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $239.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $248.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.14. The stock has a market cap of $140.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $175.50 and a 12 month high of $270.62.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % 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 dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 42,506 shares of company stock valued at $10,531,159. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.