The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Receives $275.65 Average Target Price from Analysts

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $275.94.

A number of equities analysts have commented on PGR shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $242.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $141.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Progressive has a 52 week low of $161.56 and a 52 week high of $270.62. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $240.09.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Equities analysts forecast that Progressive will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,981 shares of company stock worth $5,816,178. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Sachetta LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 34.0% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.