Concentric Capital Strategies LP Purchases 34,783 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Concentric Capital Strategies LP increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 167.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 55,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,783 shares during the period. Progressive makes up approximately 0.6% of Concentric Capital Strategies LP’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Concentric Capital Strategies LP’s holdings in Progressive were worth $13,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,462,306.04. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $283.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $166.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $275.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $259.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

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.