Progressive Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:PGR)

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 133,728 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 5,873% compared to the average daily volume of 2,239 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.00.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in Progressive during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Sachetta LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $243.45 on Friday. Progressive has a twelve month low of $164.16 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $240.97.

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, beating 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 analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.91%.

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.