Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,346 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 119 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 67.1% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,490,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 71.6% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 7,076 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 541.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $274.57 on Wednesday. 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 Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $263.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.37.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.