The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Position Reduced by 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC

12th Street Asset Management Company LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 121,469 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 9,461 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises approximately 4.8% of 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $29,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.7% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,577 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 65.8% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co lifted its holdings in Progressive by 6.2% during the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 5,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its holdings in Progressive by 8.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 5,474 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Progressive by 6.2% during the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 25,394 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,437,000 after buying an additional 1,486 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, HSBC cut 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.82.

Progressive Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of PGR opened at $279.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $163.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.68. 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 $199.54 and a 1 year high of $287.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

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.