Csenge Advisory Group Boosts Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 270.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,245 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,020 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $825,000. Forbes J M & Co. LLP raised its position in Progressive by 1.0% in the third quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 49,009 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,103,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.4% during the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 230,070 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $56,816,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 13.9% in the third quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 5,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,363,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the period. Finally, Blalock Williams LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $908,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $350.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $257.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $259.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total value of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,323,176.42. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE PGR opened at $202.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $118.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $199.90 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $222.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.97.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.19%.

About Progressive

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.