UBS Group Raises Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $218.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at UBS Group from $216.00 to $218.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.93% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PGR. HSBC raised their target price on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup increased their price target on Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.88.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $209.75 on Wednesday. Progressive has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $212.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $199.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Progressive will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $1,078,831,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $840,885,000. Viking Global Investors LP grew its stake in Progressive by 412.0% in the fourth quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 5,863,559 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $933,948,000 after purchasing an additional 4,718,237 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Progressive by 14.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Progressive by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,721,345 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $871,826,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

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.