Tuttle Capital Management LLC Acquires 552 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Tuttle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 34.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 552 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises 3.0% of Tuttle Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Tuttle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the second quarter worth $36,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Progressive during the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $235.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $251.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $241.78. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $166.92 and a fifty-two week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PGR. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.24.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.