Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Given New $347.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective boosted by Bank of America from $344.00 to $347.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.82.

Progressive Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE PGR opened at $246.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $144.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $246.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $265.12. Progressive has a one year low of $228.54 and a one year high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.96, for a total value of $1,557,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 21,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,402,135.52. This trade represents a 22.38% 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 Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $337,299.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,958,001.74. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Progressive by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,426,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Belmont Capital LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $580,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,893,000 after buying an additional 33,864 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its position in Progressive by 498.5% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,431,000 after buying an additional 4,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,141,000. 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.