The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Scharf Investments LLC

Scharf Investments LLC lifted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,475 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.3% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 19.8% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,892 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 68,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $14,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth about $319,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 1.0 %

PGR stock opened at $246.78 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $247.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $244.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $144.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $176.37 and a one year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 34.32% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.03 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen 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 an average target price of $275.71.

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.