Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $274.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $262.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.19. Progressive has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $160.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (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%. 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 will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,855 shares of company stock worth $16,767,455 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Progressive by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 90.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Progressive by 7.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Progressive by 2,262.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares during the period. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.