Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Lowers Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,930 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 17,449 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $9,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,666,449 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 31.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $666,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,591 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 102.9% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,131,601 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $296,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,834 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $88,528,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 279.2% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 811,381 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $129,237,000 after purchasing an additional 597,401 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $215.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,840,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,599,587. The firm has a market cap of $126.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $205.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.74. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $111.41 and a 1 year high of $217.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 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 company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were 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 owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

About Progressive

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.