Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.76.

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Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded up $4.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $283.87. 2,223,359 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,388,837. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $258.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $254.03. Progressive has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $287.49. The stock has a market cap of $166.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

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.