Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.76.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $283.87 on Friday. Progressive has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $287.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $258.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 predict that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 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 $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Progressive

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.