Analysts Set The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Target Price at $269.81

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $270.69.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PGR. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at $3,462,038.44. This represents a 13.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,839 shares of company stock worth $6,718,965. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 119.6% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 34.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 3.7 %

PGR stock opened at $251.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $236.78. Progressive has a 1-year low of $149.14 and a 1-year high of $270.62. 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 (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.91%.

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.