Capital Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 118 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,552 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $242.17 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $166.92 and a 52 week high of $270.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $251.06 and a 200 day moving average of $242.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.91%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. 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 that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.24.

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.