Howard Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,582 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 11,511 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $23,156,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its stake in Progressive by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 5,860 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company’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 approximately $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $265.99 on Monday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $186.94 and a twelve month high of $270.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $155.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $246.89 and a 200-day moving average of $249.35.

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 return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders 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 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.12.

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.