Citigroup Cuts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $301.38

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price cut by Citigroup from $312.00 to $301.38 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PGR. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. BMO Capital Markets set a $252.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $274.46.

Progressive Trading Up 1.7%

PGR opened at $225.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $243.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $257.90. Progressive has a 1-year low of $217.20 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. Analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $4,153,335.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total value of $1,555,052.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,806.24. This trade represents a 29.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 128,778 shares of company stock worth $31,683,756 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 210.0% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth $33,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $35,000. 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.