Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Buys 137 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 114.1% in 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 during the period. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.29.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $249.20 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $247.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.27. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $176.37 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $145.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 34.32% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued 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 was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,935,250. The trade was a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,506 shares of company stock valued at $13,031,159 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.