Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Boosts Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 230.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,206 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,422 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Giverny Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 14,022 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its position in shares of Progressive by 4.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 155,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $21,651,000 after buying an additional 7,268 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,788,000 after buying an additional 4,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Progressive Stock Up 0.5 %

PGR stock opened at $214.02 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $111.41 and a 52 week high of $216.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $125.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $201.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.58.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

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.