Everence Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,670 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $6,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in Progressive by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,669,204,000 after buying an additional 170,618 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during 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 valued at $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,022,507,000 after acquiring an additional 92,212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,981 shares of company stock valued at $5,816,178. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on PGR. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned 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 $275.94.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR traded up $3.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $243.91. The company had a trading volume of 443,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,745,351. The firm has a market cap of $142.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $251.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $239.85. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $161.56 and a 1-year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during 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%. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Progressive Company 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.