Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

PGR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI cut Progressive from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, August 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Progressive to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $279.31.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $241.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $245.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. Progressive has a 52-week low of $228.54 and a 52-week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $536,977.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 43,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,532,802.60. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 140,045 shares of company stock worth $34,635,290. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 1.0% during the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 7.4% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 3.0% during the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 2.0% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Group raised its stake in Progressive by 1.1% during the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 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.