The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by Tairen Capital Ltd

Tairen Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 156.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 60,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,600 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for about 2.1% of Tairen Capital Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Tairen Capital Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $14,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,643,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 126,494 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,309,000 after buying an additional 54,331 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its position in Progressive by 195.4% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after buying an additional 3,044 shares during the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 1,148 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 12,493 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,994,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total value of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 248,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,616,766.16. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $285.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $167.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $261.68. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PGR. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.65.

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.