Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Raised to $260.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $247.00 to $260.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Progressive in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $214.00 target price on shares of Progressive and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $266.52.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $226.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $133.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $228.90 and a 200-day moving average of $248.17. Progressive has a 52-week low of $199.90 and a 52-week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $536,977.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 43,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,532,802.60. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $295,900.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 29,043 shares in the company, valued at $6,389,460. This represents a 4.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 41,987 shares of company stock valued at $10,257,508 over the last quarter. 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 PGR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at about $2,156,939,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,384,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth about $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,928,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709,417 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.