Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Downgraded to Neutral Rating by Bank of America

Bank of America cut shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $287.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their prior target price of $300.00.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.29.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $257.27 on Friday. Progressive has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $150.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $269.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.74.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Research analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $142,324.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $969,024.07. This represents a 12.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,833 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,451,602,000 after buying an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.