Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price lifted by UBS Group from $275.00 to $285.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 0.90% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on PGR. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.76.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR traded up $3.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $282.47. 246,561 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,399,551. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $165.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $257.30 and its 200-day moving average is $253.68. Progressive has a 52-week low of $199.54 and a 52-week high of $287.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities analysts forecast that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 16.5% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Progressive by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.