The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Receives $287.41 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $287.65.

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 28,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,978,433. This represents a 4.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at $75,462,306.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 210.0% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $284.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $166.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. Progressive has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

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.