M&T Bank Corp Trims Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,494 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $18,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 143.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. HSBC lifted their price objective on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.88.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $208.72. 2,150,779 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,992,636. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $111.41 and a 12-month high of $216.21. The business’s 50-day moving average is $204.30 and its 200-day moving average is $179.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.09%.

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.