CENTRAL TRUST Co Boosts Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,117 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Bank raised its holdings in Progressive by 4.6% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $246.78 on Monday. 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 has a market cap of $144.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $176.37 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $247.01 and a 200-day moving average of $244.75.

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 14.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

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.