Hutchinson Capital Management CA Grows Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Hutchinson Capital Management CA boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for approximately 4.6% of Hutchinson Capital Management CA’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Hutchinson Capital Management CA’s holdings in Progressive were worth $24,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $283.87 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $287.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $254.03.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays increased their price target on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

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.