Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Lowered to $343.00 at Bank of America

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target cut by Bank of America from $347.00 to $343.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PGR. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company 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 for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $279.44.

Progressive Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of PGR opened at $241.93 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $245.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.32. Progressive has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 21,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,402,135.52. This trade represents a 22.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 130,062 shares of company stock valued at $32,217,635. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Progressive by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Belmont Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $580,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its stake in Progressive by 87.9% during the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 414,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $117,218,000 after buying an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $439,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,893,000 after acquiring an additional 33,864 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.