Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Hits New 12-Month High at $207.94

Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $207.94 and last traded at $207.62, with a volume of 91268 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $206.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC began coverage on Progressive in a report on Thursday, December 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $164.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $227.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $188.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $184.50.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $188.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.53. Progressive had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 6.28%. The firm had revenue of $16.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 9.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 12.92%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.26, for a total transaction of $196,334.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,098.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,210 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.26, for a total transaction of $196,334.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,098.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total transaction of $93,251.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,725,350.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 58,949 shares of company stock valued at $10,671,740. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 143.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.