The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Receives $245.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $245.50.

A number of brokerages recently commented on PGR. Zacks Research upgraded Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $257.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore set a $230.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Thursday, February 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total transaction of $336,973.15. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,097,573.10. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 9,103 shares of company stock valued at $1,883,924 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth approximately $2,156,939,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 181.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,481,615,000 after buying an additional 4,197,212 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Progressive by 32.8% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,928,141,000 after buying an additional 2,709,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:PGR opened at $210.55 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $209.31 and a 200-day moving average of $224.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 0.33. Progressive has a 52 week low of $197.92 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.08%.

About Progressive

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.