Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Cut to $273.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price trimmed by Bank of America from $279.00 to $273.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $211.88.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $209.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $122.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Progressive has a 52 week low of $111.41 and a 52 week high of $212.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $198.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Progressive’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Progressive will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balentine LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 22,162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,530,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 7,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 10.2% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,438 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.