Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 216 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,107 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 216 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 143.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

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

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

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.