Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Has $1.63 Million Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 51.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,251 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,499 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 143.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth $36,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive 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 transaction, the director now 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 SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 1.0 %

PGR traded down $2.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $208.03. 2,628,749 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,796,081. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $202.45 and its 200 day moving average is $177.51. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $216.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.