Barclays Cuts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $261.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective trimmed by Barclays from $277.00 to $261.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.00.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $243.45 on Monday. Progressive has a twelve month low of $164.16 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The firm has a market cap of $142.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $251.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $240.95.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in Progressive by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after acquiring an additional 641,943 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 29,701.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,325,000 after acquiring an additional 594,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,207,000 after acquiring an additional 590,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

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.