The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $287.65.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th.

Progressive Trading Up 0.1%

PGR opened at $284.33 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $275.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $166.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. Progressive has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.70%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,922.70. The trade was a 23.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,086,160 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,156,424,000 after purchasing an additional 134,261 shares during the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth about $20,852,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 16,928 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,791,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth about $720,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.