Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $313.00 to $317.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 17.53% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PGR. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.12.

Progressive Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $269.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.42. Progressive has a one year low of $186.94 and a one year high of $270.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $246.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $248.36. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 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 value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth 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, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.