Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $264.00 and last traded at $264.00, with a volume of 54521 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $257.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.56.

Progressive Stock Down 0.7 %

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 stock has a market capitalization of $149.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $252.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.82.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,475,967. The trade was a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,331 shares of company stock worth $16,415,812 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Progressive by 84.3% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after buying an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management grew its holdings in Progressive by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $981,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 22.2% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,480,000 after acquiring an additional 5,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 88.7% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,626 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 3,585 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.