Securian Asset Management Inc. Trims Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,989 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,015 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 143.6% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the 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 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the 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 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,500 shares of company stock worth $8,983,706 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.88.

Progressive Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $2.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $209.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,005,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,553,989. The company has a market cap of $122.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $208.37 and its 200-day moving average is $183.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $217.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued 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 business had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.09%.

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.