Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Raised to $328.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $324.00 to $328.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on PGR. Barclays upped their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.65.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $284.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50-day moving average is $275.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.28. Progressive has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,084.80. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,086,160 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,156,424,000 after buying an additional 134,261 shares during the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth about $20,852,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Progressive by 4.1% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 16,928 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,791,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $720,000. Hedge funds and other 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.