Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Sets New 12-Month High at $214.02

Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $214.02 and last traded at $213.78, with a volume of 1021317 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $209.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

Progressive Trading Up 2.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $125.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $199.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Markel Corp grew its stake in Progressive by 4.1% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 750,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,578,000 after acquiring an additional 29,750 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 49,086 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,595,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 3.9% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.0% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,081 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 103.5% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,022 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 3,571 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Company Profile

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.