UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price raised by UBS Group from $218.00 to $220.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the subject of several other reports. William Blair cut Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research raised shares of Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $239.83.

Progressive Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:PGR opened at $204.97 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $120.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 0.33. Progressive has a one year low of $197.92 and a one year high of $289.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.49.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $745,604.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,857,776. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,687 shares of company stock worth $2,413,044. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,156,939,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 78.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 181.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,481,615,000 after buying an additional 4,197,212 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 32.8% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,928,141,000 after buying an additional 2,709,417 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position 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 buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. 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.