Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Given New $239.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $235.00 to $239.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $276.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a buy rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $222.94.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $219.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $128.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $199.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.33. Progressive has a 52 week low of $118.75 and a 52 week high of $229.00.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total value of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,978,003.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total value of $466,421.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,383.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total value of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,978,003.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,647 shares of company stock valued at $7,417,765 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,628,000. TCW Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,988,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,090,000. Invesco LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its position in shares of Progressive by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,788,000 after purchasing an additional 4,983 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.