Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 17,423 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 18.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,613 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,423 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Progressive were worth $29,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 900.0% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 6,350.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $536,977.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 43,506 shares in the company, valued at $10,532,802.60. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,673 shares of company stock worth $4,163,005. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC set a $259.00 price target on shares of Progressive and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Progressive from $276.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $264.92.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $236.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $223.98 and a 200 day moving average of $242.19. The company has a market cap of $138.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.19%.

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.