Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 328.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,732 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 84,869 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Progressive were worth $23,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 455 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank boosted its stake in Progressive by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. City State Bank now owns 661 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, GYL Financial Synergies LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.18.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6 %

PGR opened at $257.60 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $137.59 and a 12 month high of $260.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $234.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.84. The company has a market cap of $150.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.7 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $850,689.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,247.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $850,689.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,015,247.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 151,350 shares of company stock worth $34,691,584. 0.34% of the stock is currently 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.