Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Given New $319.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target lifted by Bank of America from $309.00 to $319.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $260.53.

Progressive Stock Up 0.9 %

PGR opened at $254.09 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $245.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $142.87 and a fifty-two week high of $260.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Progressive will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total value of $466,421.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,383.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,462,038.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,512 shares of company stock valued at $33,912,874 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 119.6% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new position in Progressive in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank grew its stake in Progressive by 126.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.