Hsbc Global Res Downgrades Progressive (NYSE:PGR) to Hold

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was downgraded by research analysts at Hsbc Global Res from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

PGR has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Progressive from $301.38 to $300.60 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, William Blair downgraded Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $259.39.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $202.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $222.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.97. The company has a market cap of $118.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.34. Progressive has a twelve month low of $199.90 and a twelve month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at $50,956,523.52. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total value of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,323,176.42. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,034 shares of company stock valued at $2,047,481. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 480,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,357,000 after buying an additional 2,227 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in Progressive by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Progressive by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $646,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Victory Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $277,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 8,848 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.