Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 213.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,764 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,651 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $12,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Giverny Capital Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 2.9% during the third quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 501,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $69,849,000 after buying an additional 14,022 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its position in Progressive by 4.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 155,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $21,651,000 after buying an additional 7,268 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $295,000. Bensler LLC increased its position in Progressive by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 50,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,024,000 after buying an additional 5,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in Progressive by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 139,368 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,199,000 after buying an additional 5,403 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of PGR opened at $203.90 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $197.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.13. The stock has a market cap of $119.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $212.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Progressive from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $202.00.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total transaction of $93,251.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,725,350.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 5,939 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total transaction of $1,005,116.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 465,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,821,329.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $93,251.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,725,350.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 44,629 shares of company stock valued at $8,348,176. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.