Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Grows Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,118 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,424,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Progressive by 727.8% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 16,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 14,651 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP raised its position in shares of Progressive by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 206,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,561,000 after purchasing an additional 65,109 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in Progressive by 305.0% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 806 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,255 shares of company stock worth $17,250,271 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

Progressive stock opened at $284.16 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $166.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

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.