Clearstead Trust LLC Buys 1,816 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 106.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,529 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,816 shares during the quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Progressive by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,002,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,449 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,982,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $833,410,000 after buying an additional 162,916 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Progressive by 2.9% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,641,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $785,814,000 after buying an additional 156,332 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Progressive by 31.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $666,004,000 after buying an additional 1,154,591 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 10.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,363,575 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $468,546,000 after buying an additional 309,287 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Progressive 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 sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 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 Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Progressive stock traded down $0.31 on Friday, hitting $208.72. The stock had a trading volume of 2,150,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,992,636. 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 Progressive Co. has a one year low of $111.41 and a one year high of $216.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $204.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.61. The stock has a market cap of $122.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

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.