The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Cooper Financial Group

Cooper Financial Group increased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 16.5% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank grew its position in Progressive by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $235.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $166.92 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $251.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $241.78.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.24.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

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.