Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $270.62 and last traded at $266.86, with a volume of 2862426 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $268.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.81.

Progressive Trading Down 0.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $253.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.72. The firm has a market cap of $156.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,475,967. The trade was a 8.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 13.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,531,000 after acquiring an additional 11,770 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $981,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 116.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 6,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,649,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Finally, JLB & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. now owns 93,053 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,613,000 after acquiring an additional 8,454 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is 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.