Sycomore Asset Management Purchases Shares of 51,770 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Sycomore Asset Management purchased a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 51,770 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,066,000. Progressive accounts for about 1.8% of Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 106.6% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in Progressive by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays set a $247.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $202.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $118.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $269.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $199.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.09.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $231,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at $5,733,600. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.