The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Receives $260.74 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $260.2118.

PGR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total value of $302,131.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at $5,924,379.20. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 13.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Progressive by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 256 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC raised its position in Progressive by 5.4% in the second quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.6% during the second quarter. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of PGR opened at $205.46 on Monday. Progressive has a 52-week low of $199.90 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $120.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $223.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.19%.

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.