The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $245.50.

PGR has been the topic of several research reports. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. William Blair cut shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $205.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,649 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total value of $336,973.15. Following the sale, the insider owned 39,626 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,573.10. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,103 shares of company stock worth $1,883,924 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 106.6% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of PGR opened at $210.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.33. Progressive has a 1 year low of $197.92 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.98.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.08%.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.