Delta Investment Management LLC Acquires 1,976 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Delta Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 242.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,976 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 value of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $288.11 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $168.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $275.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.13.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for 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, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.24.

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.