Greenleaf Trust Acquires 1,442 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,095 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 109.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth $31,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $4.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $214.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,190,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,908,719. The company has a market cap of $125.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $199.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.10. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $111.41 and a 52-week high of $215.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

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.