The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $275.71.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $246.78 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $247.40 and a 200-day moving average of $244.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $144.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41. Progressive has a 1 year low of $176.37 and a 1 year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 34.32% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

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.