Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Rating Lowered to Hold at Barclays

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was downgraded by research analysts at Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

PGR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $226.00 to $218.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $240.67.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $202.32 on Wednesday. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $197.92 and a fifty-two week high of $289.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $206.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.44. The stock has a market cap of $118.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 141 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $29,892.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,536. This represents a 14.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total value of $336,973.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,097,573.10. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,417 shares of company stock valued at $2,357,289. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.