Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Coverage Initiated at BMO Capital Markets

Equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR – Get Rating) in a research report issued on Thursday, The Fly reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $155.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 21.44% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $123.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, October 7th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $106.00 to $104.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Progressive to $133.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 14th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Progressive from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, November 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.36.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $127.63 on Thursday. Progressive has a 52 week low of $100.81 and a 52 week high of $135.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.45. The firm has a market cap of $74.67 billion, a PE ratio of 90.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 26,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.36, for a total value of $3,504,728.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 431,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,290,751.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 26,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.36, for a total value of $3,504,728.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 431,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,290,751.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 3,644 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.36, for a total value of $475,031.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,979,646.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 68,559 shares of company stock valued at $8,822,843. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Progressive by 530.4% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,158,996 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,297,456,000 after buying an additional 9,388,746 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its position in Progressive by 1,235.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 3,762,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $437,218,000 after purchasing an additional 3,480,538 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,084,686 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $823,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,114,902 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Progressive by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,854,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,029,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Progressive by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,142,690 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $713,841,000 after purchasing an additional 799,553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company Profile

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The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, 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.