Naples Money Management LLC Takes Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 13,585 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,164,000. Progressive accounts for about 2.0% of Naples Money Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Progressive by 14.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after buying an additional 2,666,449 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Progressive by 4.3% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,754,850 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,291,249,000 after purchasing an additional 403,527 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Progressive by 10.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,916,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 655,706 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Progressive by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,721,345 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $871,826,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $840,885,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, 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 transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR traded up $4.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $214.69. The stock had a trading volume of 4,190,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,618,959. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $215.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC lifted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has an average 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.