Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Coverage Initiated at Citigroup

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) in a research report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $312.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Progressive from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.88.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $247.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $144.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Progressive has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $253.14 and its 200-day moving average is $266.25.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $552,814.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 47,942 shares in the company, valued at $11,949,064.08. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,313 shares of company stock valued at $28,349,549 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 114.0% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 210.0% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.