Fifth Third Bancorp Cuts Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,771 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,015 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $26,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Progressive by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after acquiring an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its stake in Progressive by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.65.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,506 shares of company stock worth $10,531,159 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4 %

PGR stock opened at $238.58 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $248.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.31. The stock has a market cap of $139.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $175.50 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s 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.