Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 107.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,105 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,165 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Beacon Financial Group lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% during the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,036,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Channel Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter worth $2,490,000. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 36.5% during the 1st quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 826 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 89.1% during the 1st quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 4,546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 2,142 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at $75,759,663.84. This trade represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,755 shares of company stock valued at $10,367,074. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $282.18 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $276.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.11. The company has a market capitalization of $165.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

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.