Tairen Capital Ltd Grows Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Tairen Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 156.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,600 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up approximately 2.1% of Tairen Capital Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Tairen Capital Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $14,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $479,391.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,546,174.02. The trade was a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,616,766.16. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $285.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $275.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.68. The company has a market capitalization of $167.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.65.

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.