Elm3 Financial Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Elm3 Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,396 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,000. Progressive makes up about 1.1% of Elm3 Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. StockNews.com cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $248.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $145.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $179.90 and a 52 week high of $270.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $246.28 and its 200-day moving average is $245.29.

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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given 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 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.