Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR – Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $250.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $226.00.
A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PGR. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on Progressive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $228.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.05.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Progressive
Progressive Stock Performance
Progressive (NYSE:PGR – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 17.71 earnings per share for the current year.
Progressive Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.01%.
Insider Activity at Progressive
In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at $8,908,847.43. The trade was a 14.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the sale, the insider owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 82,224 shares of company stock worth $17,416,438 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allstate Corp boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 22,915 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,447,000. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 761,587 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $173,429,000 after purchasing an additional 9,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $353,906,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.
About Progressive
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.
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