The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Receives $284.18 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $284.8235.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI cut 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, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total transaction of $7,543,953.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at $117,194,933.16. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.0% during the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 210.0% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $248.69 on Tuesday. Progressive has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $246.68 and its 200 day moving average is $264.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $145.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid 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 is Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

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.