Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Sets New 52-Week High at $216.33

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $216.33 and last traded at $214.04, with a volume of 88752 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $215.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.88.

Progressive Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $204.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $125.23 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Progressive’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 46.0% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 180,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,352,000 after purchasing an additional 56,900 shares in the last quarter. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,433,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 21.3% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 6,638 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.8% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,374 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 4,545.0% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 705,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $145,858,000 after purchasing an additional 690,060 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.