The Progressive Co. (PGR) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $0.10 on October 11th

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, August 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.10 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, October 11th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd.

Progressive has a dividend payout ratio of 3.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Progressive to earn $13.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 3.0%.

Progressive Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE PGR opened at $253.76 on Tuesday. Progressive has a 1-year low of $137.59 and a 1-year high of $260.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $148.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.18.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total transaction of $466,421.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 974 shares in the company, valued at $213,383.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,512 shares of company stock worth $33,912,874 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% 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.