The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $288.59.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price objective on Progressive and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 238,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,755 shares of company stock valued at $10,367,074. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 210.0% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $279.19 on Friday. Progressive has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $163.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $276.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.