Cavalier Investments LLC Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Cavalier Investments LLC lifted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises 1.4% of Cavalier Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Cavalier Investments LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $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 buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value 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 approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $278.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $247.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.14. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $186.94 and a 52 week high of $279.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.59.

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.