2,254 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Acquired by Valmark Advisers Inc.

Valmark Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,254 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Progressive by 143.6% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $208.03 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.99. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $111.41 and a 1 year high of $216.21. The company has a market capitalization of $121.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued 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 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, 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 worth $7,458,139 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. HSBC upped their price target on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.