Independence Bank of Kentucky Has $42,000 Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1,650.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Progressive were worth $42,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 541.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.71.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE PGR opened at $246.78 on Monday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $176.37 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $247.01 and its 200 day moving average is $244.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $144.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 34.32% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

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.