Brokerages Set The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Price Target at $236.11

Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $236.1053.

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $476,895.82. Following the sale, the executive owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,583,637.50. This trade represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $769,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 42,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,370,900. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 74,885 shares of company stock worth $15,880,459 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after acquiring an additional 593,612 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Progressive by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,398,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,527 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in Progressive by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,375,706,000 after buying an additional 1,092,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $1,836,094,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 0.0%

Progressive stock opened at $211.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $123.59 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.32. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $254.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $211.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.97.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were 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 was Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

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.