Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases 3,499 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 51.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,251 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,499 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Ion Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 7,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Progressive by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,727 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Progressive stock traded down $2.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $208.03. The stock had a trading volume of 2,628,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,796,081. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $202.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.51. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $111.41 and a 12-month high of $216.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $121.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during 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%. Progressive’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

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.