BMO Capital Markets Cuts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $281.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective decreased by BMO Capital Markets from $288.00 to $281.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.63.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $246.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $267.67 and a 200-day moving average of $266.09. Progressive has a one year low of $208.13 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $144.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.37.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total transaction of $691,398.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,429 shares in the company, valued at $3,451,160.43. The trade was a 16.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $1,041,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,750,829.82. The trade was a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in Progressive by 7.4% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 3.0% during the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Group increased its position in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.