Sapient Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Keel Point LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 68.4% during the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 2,905 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $547,000. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 50.9% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 1,235 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,290 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,701,609 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $237,034,000 after acquiring an additional 260,315 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $215.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $111.41 and a one year high of $216.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. 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, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.88.

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.