Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC Has $3.83 Million Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC cut its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,965 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,776 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up about 0.7% of Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PGR. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.24.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $236.51. 2,008,657 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,259,304. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $251.48 and a 200 day moving average of $240.97. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $164.98 and a one year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

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.