Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

PGR has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James raised shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.82.

Progressive Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $279.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $257.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $163.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. Progressive has a 12-month low of $199.54 and a 12-month high of $287.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, analysts predict that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 28,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,978,433. The trade was a 4.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 1.7% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,577 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 65.8% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its stake in Progressive by 8.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 5,474 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Progressive by 0.8% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 26,274 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,667,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of Progressive by 24.9% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 65,471 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,614,000 after acquiring an additional 13,047 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is 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.