Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Barclays from $264.00 to $285.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 1.65% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PGR. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.82.

Progressive Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of PGR stock traded up $2.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $280.38. 311,756 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,633,289. The company has a market cap of $164.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Progressive has a 12 month low of $199.54 and a 12 month high of $287.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $256.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.50.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, equities analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TFR Capital LLC. bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $1,712,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $118,434,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 112.0% in the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 34,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,276,000 after buying an additional 18,250 shares during the period. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 44.3% during the 4th quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,606 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $359,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.