Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 72.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,201 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 35,078 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $3,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank grew its stake in Progressive by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monument Capital Management grew its holdings in Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,298,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Up 1.7%

Progressive stock traded up $4.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $285.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,779,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,644,623. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $275.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $261.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PGR. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America raised Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.65.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,248,922.70. This represents a 23.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. 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.