Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Roth Mkm raised their price target on the stock from $290.00 to $315.00. Roth Mkm currently has a buy rating on the stock. Progressive traded as high as $275.52 and last traded at $272.91, with a volume of 3951764 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $266.19.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on PGR. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,606 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $359,000. United Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,418,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. American Trust lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. American Trust now owns 4,559 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,092,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 36,842 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,828,000 after buying an additional 3,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 2.0 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $248.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.30. The stock has a market cap of $163.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

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.