Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $232.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $225.00 to $232.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target points to a potential upside of 13.69% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $240.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research cut Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group set a $226.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays upgraded Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $257.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Progressive from $214.00 to $205.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $245.29.

Progressive Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $204.07 on Thursday. Progressive has a 52-week low of $197.92 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $212.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $226.71. The stock has a market cap of $119.67 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 0.32.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were 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 owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total value of $336,973.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 39,626 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,573.10. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,416,011. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Cambient Family Office LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $340,000. Waterford Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,607,000. Wick Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,445,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 883,272 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $195,121,000 after purchasing an additional 23,439 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Sparrow LLC DE bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,060,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.