The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $211.88.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th.

Progressive Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $208.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $202.45 and its 200 day moving average is $177.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. Progressive has a 12-month low of $111.41 and a 12-month high of $216.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Research analysts expect that Progressive will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Balentine LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 22,162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,530,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 7,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in Progressive by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,438 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Winslow Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Winslow Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.