Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Coverage Initiated at Barclays

Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $367.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PGR. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Progressive from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $252.24.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $253.91 on Wednesday. Progressive has a 1 year low of $133.15 and a 1 year high of $254.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $223.88 and its 200-day moving average is $211.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Progressive will post 12.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.09%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total transaction of $135,271.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $828,485.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 103,984 shares of company stock worth $22,564,766. Company insiders own 0.34% 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 PGR. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,628,000. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,988,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,090,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 66.4% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 90.4% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 21,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.