GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 39,285.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,038,303 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.52% of Progressive worth $862,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Progressive by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 1,855 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,212,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 68.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,328 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.2% during the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 26,196 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 13.5% during the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 53,920 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,260,000 after acquiring an additional 6,430 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total transaction of $2,759,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 43,651 shares of company stock worth $12,017,780. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.59.

Progressive Stock Down 0.0%

PGR stock opened at $277.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $162.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $275.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $263.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.