Bank of America Raises Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $297.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at Bank of America from $289.00 to $297.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.88% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.76.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $265.45 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $273.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $257.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. Progressive has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts predict that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,498,363,000 after buying an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Progressive by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,480,677,000 after buying an additional 710,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.