HBW Advisory Services LLC Grows Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 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 value of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, 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 sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.24.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $235.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $138.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.37. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $164.98 and a 52 week high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.