GAMMA Investing LLC Makes New Investment in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 143.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $2.89 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $211.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,322,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,600,293. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $201.17 and its 200-day moving average is $176.58. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $111.41 and a 1 year high of $216.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PGR. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. 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 report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, April 1st. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were 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 owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were 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 owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.