Carret Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Carret Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $279.54 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $199.54 and a 52-week high of $287.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $257.30 and a 200-day moving average of $253.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.82.

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.