Illumine Investment Management LLC Invests $1.79 Million in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Illumine Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,448 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,785,000. Progressive comprises about 1.5% of Illumine Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at $235,000. Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 17.7% in the third quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 685 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 16,065 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,077,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 739.9% during the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 8,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 7,658 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $279.02 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $249.41 and its 200 day moving average is $250.50. The stock has a market cap of $163.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $186.94 and a one year high of $280.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. 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 report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,935,250. The trade was a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,361 shares of company stock valued at $11,302,675 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.