Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Upgraded at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $250.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $226.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target indicates a potential upside of 15.06% from the company’s current price.

PGR has been the subject of several other research reports. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Mizuho set a $236.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $228.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.37.

Progressive Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $217.28 on Thursday. Progressive has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $254.93. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $126.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 17.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% 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 link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $7,942,165.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 522,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,199,682.96. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 82,224 shares of company stock worth $17,416,438. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 65,951 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,958 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $692,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Progressive by 14.2% in the second quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 3,298 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 858.3% in the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,870,000 after purchasing an additional 48,666 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 6.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,784,205 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,482,010,000 after purchasing an additional 410,326 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Progressive

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.