Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Roth Mkm raised their price target on the stock from $290.00 to $315.00. Roth Mkm currently has a buy rating on the stock. Progressive traded as high as $275.52 and last traded at $272.91, with a volume of 3951764 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $266.19.

PGR has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Progressive by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 18,371 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,662,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 121.3% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 3,016 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its holdings in Progressive by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 392,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $99,000,000 after acquiring an additional 21,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $235,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $163.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $248.63 and a 200-day moving average of $250.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

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.