Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $261.00 to $264.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Progressive traded as high as $270.79 and last traded at $269.71, with a volume of 3164166 shares. The stock had previously closed at $263.93.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on PGR. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 14.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 70,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,876,000 after purchasing an additional 9,114 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 34.8% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its position in shares of Progressive by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 1,620 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth about $880,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 4,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $245.59 and a 200 day moving average of $248.21. The company has a market capitalization of $158.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

About Progressive

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.