Legacy Private Trust Co. Takes Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Legacy Private Trust Co. acquired a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,283 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,212,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 68.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,328 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 26,196 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 53,920 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,260,000 after purchasing an additional 6,430 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 119.0% in the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,469 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total transaction of $344,787.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 28,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,978,433. This trade represents a 4.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total transaction of $2,759,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,651 shares of company stock worth $12,017,780. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.59.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $284.82 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $275.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly 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. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Progressive 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.