New Century Financial Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

New Century Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 114.1% in the third 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 during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.4 %

PGR stock opened at $238.58 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $248.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $243.11. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $175.50 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The firm has a market cap of $139.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,506 shares of company stock worth $10,531,159. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.65.

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.