New Covenant Trust Company N.A. Invests $41,000 in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 198 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $32,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $1.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $216.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,743,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,573,834. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $124.06 and a 52-week high of $229.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $211.03 and a 200 day moving average of $202.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Progressive from $235.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Progressive from $276.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total transaction of $1,525,567.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,357,996.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,168 shares of company stock valued at $22,937,984 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.