First Bank & Trust Sells 109 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

First Bank & Trust decreased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,061 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,076 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,456,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $393,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Progressive by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 207,442 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $49,705,000 after acquiring an additional 6,831 shares during the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its holdings in Progressive by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 7,680 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,453 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $269.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $158.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $246.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $186.94 and a fifty-two week high of $270.79.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PGR. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.