The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $211.88.

A number of analysts have commented on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th.

Progressive Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $211.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.35. Progressive has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $216.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $203.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Progressive will post 11.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,466,781 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,197,629,000 after acquiring an additional 218,809 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 14.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,449 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,935,652 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,378,951,000 after purchasing an additional 520,742 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 10.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,916,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 655,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,078,831,000. 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.