Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 8,897 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,897 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $13,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of PGR stock traded down $1.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $212.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,915,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,609,432. The company has a 50 day moving average of $201.17 and a 200 day moving average of $176.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $124.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $216.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. HSBC increased their target price on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

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.