Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Given New $250.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $246.00 to $250.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on PGR. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $253.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 17th. William Blair downgraded shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $264.98.

Progressive Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $224.87 on Thursday. Progressive has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $131.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $223.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $241.60.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.19%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at $50,956,523.52. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,323,176.42. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,690 shares of company stock valued at $1,745,350. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,667,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,500,146,000 after buying an additional 151,240 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Progressive by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after acquiring an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,513,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,128,055,000 after purchasing an additional 301,371 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Progressive by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.