The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $287.65.

PGR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Progressive Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:PGR opened at $283.38 on Wednesday. Progressive has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $166.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.88.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares in the company, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 248,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,616,766.16. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 114.0% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 210.0% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.