The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $266.5238.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $351.00 to $346.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $276.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $295,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 29,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,389,460. The trade was a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $536,977.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 43,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,532,802.60. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,987 shares of company stock valued at $10,257,508. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,156,939,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,384,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the first quarter worth $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,928,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709,417 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4%

PGR opened at $226.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Progressive has a twelve month low of $199.90 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.44.

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

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.