Comerica Bank Has $34.87 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Comerica Bank lessened its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 145,507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,030 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Progressive were worth $34,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the third quarter worth $2,566,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,054 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,044,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 55.0% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 99.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of PGR opened at $281.81 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $258.75.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at $75,462,306.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. StockNews.com cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.41.

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.