Chicago Capital LLC Sells 886 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Chicago Capital LLC decreased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 404,805 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 886 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for approximately 2.6% of Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Chicago Capital LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Progressive worth $96,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 12,117 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,903,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 1,122.3% during the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,802 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 28,282 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 12,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,908,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.71.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $246.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $144.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $176.37 and a 52 week high of $270.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $247.01 and its 200-day moving average is $244.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued 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 yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company 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.