Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 288 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 384.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 363 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $87,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 20.9% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monument Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4 %

PGR stock opened at $263.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $154.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $186.94 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $245.26 and its 200 day moving average is $247.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.88.

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.