The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock Position Reduced by Southpoint Capital Advisors LP

Southpoint Capital Advisors LP cut its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 800,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 200,000 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 4.5% of Southpoint Capital Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP owned 0.14% of Progressive worth $191,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PGR. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.65.

Progressive Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $285.93 on Monday. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $275.35 and a 200 day moving average of $261.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $167.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid 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 currently 2.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,462,306.04. The trade was a 3.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,084.80. This represents a 4.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Progressive

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.