Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Receives Equal Weight Rating from Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company restated their equal weight rating on shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $265.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $327.00.

A number of other research firms have also commented on PGR. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Progressive in a report on Monday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $344.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $279.44.

Progressive Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $241.93 on Thursday. Progressive has a 1-year low of $228.54 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $141.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $245.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total value of $1,509,141.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,844 shares in the company, valued at $6,742,703.04. The trade was a 18.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,062 shares of company stock valued at $32,217,635 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its position in Progressive by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,645,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 5,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,663 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.