Versant Capital Management Inc Purchases 391 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 98.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Sachetta LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $242.22 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $161.56 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $251.58 and its 200 day moving average is $239.85.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was 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 $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,981 shares of company stock worth $5,816,178 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.