The Progressive Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.10 (NYSE:PGR)

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 10th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.10 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, April 11th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd.

Progressive has decreased its dividend by an average of 17.9% annually over the last three years. Progressive has a payout ratio of 28.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Progressive to earn $15.40 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.2%.

Progressive Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $277.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $162.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $255.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.33. Progressive has a 12 month low of $195.57 and a 12 month high of $287.49.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.59.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Progressive stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 457 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.