Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday.

PGR has been the subject of several other reports. HSBC raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.56.

Progressive Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE PGR opened at $257.47 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.29. Progressive has a 12 month low of $149.14 and a 12 month high of $263.85.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. On average, analysts predict that Progressive will post 13.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,462,038.44. This trade represents a 13.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 6,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.19, for a total transaction of $1,439,833.18. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,600,400.04. This trade represents a 15.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 65,331 shares of company stock worth $16,415,812. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 119.6% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank grew its stake in Progressive by 126.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. 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.