Black Diamond Financial LLC Makes New Investment in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Black Diamond Financial LLC purchased a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $265.99 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $246.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $186.94 and a twelve month high of $270.79. The stock has a market cap of $155.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

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, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.12.

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.