The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $283.71.

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $288.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $234,044.98. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at $8,463,329.23. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total transaction of $2,759,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pines Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 3.0% in the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $275.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $161.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. Progressive has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $257.20.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 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, research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

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.