Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) gapped up before the market opened on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $202.26, but opened at $208.00. Progressive shares last traded at $206.18, with a volume of 810,184 shares traded.

The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.96 by $0.98. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 6.28%. The business’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 6.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. TD Cowen started coverage on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Progressive from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $196.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 5,939 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total transaction of $1,005,116.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares in the company, valued at $78,821,329.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 5,939 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total transaction of $1,005,116.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares in the company, valued at $78,821,329.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,629 shares of company stock valued at $8,348,176 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Giverny Capital Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 2.9% in the third quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 501,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $69,849,000 after buying an additional 14,022 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its position in Progressive by 4.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 155,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $21,651,000 after buying an additional 7,268 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $295,000. Bensler LLC increased its position in Progressive by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 50,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,024,000 after buying an additional 5,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in Progressive by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 139,368 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,199,000 after buying an additional 5,403 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.68. The firm has a market cap of $119.41 billion, a PE ratio of 30.98, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.35.

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.