The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $237.3684.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $205.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays set a $247.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 15,230 shares of company stock valued at $3,165,817 in the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its stake in Progressive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 7,463 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in Progressive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,267,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE PGR opened at $231.75 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $203.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.60. Progressive has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $261.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $135.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 17.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.