Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New $2.09 Million Investment in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,709 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,087,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Black Diamond Financial LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $210,000. C WorldWide Group Holding A S purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $2,450,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in Progressive by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 147,670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,383,000 after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $905,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PGR. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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. Bank of America upped their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays upped their price target on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $272.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $249.74. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $186.94 and a twelve month high of $275.52.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. 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.