Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,290 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,556 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in Progressive by 1,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $250.64 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $245.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $245.80. 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 company has a market cap of $146.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $180.72 and a 1-year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

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.