Smith Group Asset Management LLC Acquires 723 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,692 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in Progressive during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Progressive during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,506 shares of company stock valued at $10,531,159. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $244.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $247.89 and a 200-day moving average of $244.25. The stock has a market cap of $143.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $175.50 and a 52-week high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.91%.

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.