Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Upgraded at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $305.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.65.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $241.02 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $252.25 and a 200-day moving average of $239.09. The company has a market cap of $141.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Progressive has a 1-year low of $157.61 and a 1-year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. SMART Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth $295,000. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $458,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,253,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 6.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 65.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 72,163 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $18,312,000 after purchasing an additional 28,636 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.