Bank of America Cuts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $300.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price decreased by Bank of America from $318.00 to $300.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the subject of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $273.08 on Thursday. Progressive has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $261.96 and its 200 day moving average is $255.01. The company has a market cap of $160.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction 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 approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,495 shares of company stock worth $16,668,034. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.