Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,869 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,011 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $18,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 143.6% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.7 %

PGR traded down $1.36 on Monday, reaching $206.67. 2,691,460 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,612,023. The company has a market cap of $121.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $216.21. The company’s 50 day moving average is $202.45 and its 200-day moving average is $177.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. 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 business posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

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.