The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Interchange Capital Partners LLC

Interchange Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,034 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 20.5% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 391,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $99,290,000 after purchasing an additional 66,628 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 92.8% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,225,000 after purchasing an additional 18,820 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $929,000. Stonebrook Private Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $271,000. Finally, GenTrust LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $246,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $273.08 on Monday. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $261.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued 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 is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PGR. Bank of America reduced their price target on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $479,391.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,546,174.02. This trade represents a 5.97 % 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 the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,495 shares of company stock valued at $16,668,034. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.