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

Certuity LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Compass Ion Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 7,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 10.2% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 19.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners grew its position in shares of Progressive by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,727 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $211.78 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $216.21. The stock has a market cap of $124.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $203.61 and its 200-day moving average is $179.05.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 currently 4.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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 report on Monday, April 8th. 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 for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value 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 transaction 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 Progressive stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.