Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Cut to $268.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $290.00 to $268.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target points to a potential upside of 8.73% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Progressive from $291.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Progressive from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.63.

Progressive Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $246.48 on Thursday. Progressive has a twelve month low of $208.13 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $267.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.37.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $329,901.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,191,955.98. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $958,642.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,181,673.31. The trade was a 23.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,426,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,893,000 after acquiring an additional 33,864 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in Progressive by 498.5% in the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after acquiring an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,141,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 93,463 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,451,000 after purchasing an additional 13,231 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.