Yousif Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 81,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,897 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $13,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. TD Cowen started coverage on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $212.20. 1,915,165 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,609,432. The company has a market cap of $124.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 0.84 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $201.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.58. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $111.41 and a 52-week high of $216.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. Progressive’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

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 stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company 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.