Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Reaches New 52-Week High at $216.33

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $216.33 and last traded at $214.04, with a volume of 88752 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $215.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Progressive Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.98. The company has a market capitalization of $125.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,078,831,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Progressive by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,449 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Progressive by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $666,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,591 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 102.9% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,131,601 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $296,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080,834 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Progressive by 237.8% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,485,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $236,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045,883 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.