Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases 2,238 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 28.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,051 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $2,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $289.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.76.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $9.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $265.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,648,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,642,950. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The business's 50-day moving average price is $273.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $257.84.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.70%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,463,329.23. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.