Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Lowered to $319.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price reduced by Jefferies Financial Group from $327.00 to $319.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays upped their price target on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.71.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $275.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $161.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. Progressive has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $271.85 and its 200-day moving average is $257.20.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $479,391.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 26,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,546,174.02. The trade was a 5.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th 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. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 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.