Stevens Capital Management LP Takes $749,000 Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,705 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $749,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $2.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $210.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,882,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,610,821. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.83. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $216.21. The firm has a market cap of $123.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.