Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on PGR. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $273.08 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.01. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $160.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. Progressive has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,495 shares of company stock valued at $16,668,034 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,134,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 175,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,136,000 after acquiring an additional 46,915 shares during the period. TFR Capital LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $1,712,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $118,434,000. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Progressive by 112.0% in the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 34,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,276,000 after purchasing an additional 18,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.