Sierra Ocean LLC Buys New Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 305 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Monument Capital Management raised its stake in Progressive by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 2,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Progressive by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,356 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 17,186 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Little House Capital LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $754,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $262.71 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $186.94 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The stock has a market cap of $153.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $244.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.54.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. 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 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Progressive Company 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.