Everpar Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 4,258 The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,258 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $678,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Ion Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 7,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 10.2% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners grew its position in Progressive by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,727 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, 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 the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.0 %

PGR traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $215.53. 2,706,155 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,609,659. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $111.41 and a 52 week high of $216.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $205.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.74. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PGR. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. 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. Bank of America lowered their price target on Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.