Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $261.00 to $264.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the insurance provider's stock.

PGR has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, HSBC downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $276.12.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded down $1.68 on Tuesday, reaching $265.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,567,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,505,890. The stock has a market cap of $155.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.42. Progressive has a 1 year low of $186.94 and a 1 year high of $270.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.87.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released 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 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities research analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.5 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

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.