Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Barclays from $264.00 to $285.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 1.65% from the company’s previous close.

PGR has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.82.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded up $2.83 on Thursday, hitting $280.38. 311,756 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,633,289. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $164.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. Progressive has a 12 month low of $199.54 and a 12 month high of $287.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $256.53 and a 200 day moving average of $253.50.

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

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. 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.