Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Shares Gap Down to $139.57

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $139.57, but opened at $134.70. Progressive shares last traded at $136.41, with a volume of 609,727 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $198.00 to $206.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 15th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Progressive from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $128.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $165.00 to $156.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given 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 $141.57.

Progressive Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $81.21 billion, a PE ratio of 47.51, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.47.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 13th. The insurance provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.24 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 3.12% and a return on equity of 12.02%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 5th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 4th. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 13.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.51, for a total value of $1,518,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 309,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,155,730.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, Director Barbara R. Snyder sold 21,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,892,178.79. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $879,724.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.51, for a total transaction of $1,518,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 309,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,155,730.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,801 shares of company stock worth $8,203,964 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in Progressive by 97,906.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 372,104,935 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $49,255,530,000 after acquiring an additional 371,725,263 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 43,918,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,813,550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,643 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 26,382,534 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,774,286,000 after purchasing an additional 254,125 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,956,012 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,303,427,000 after purchasing an additional 560,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,131,690 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,736,980,000 after purchasing an additional 87,687 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

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.