1ST Source Bank Has $301,000 Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

1ST Source Bank increased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,256 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank’s holdings in Progressive were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total transaction of $344,787.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 28,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,978,433. This represents a 4.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $291.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $170.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $259.18 and its 200-day moving average is $254.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

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.