Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $313.00 to $317.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider's stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $276.12.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR traded down $1.68 on Thursday, reaching $265.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,567,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,505,890. Progressive has a twelve month low of $186.94 and a twelve month 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 stock has a market cap of $155.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.42. The firm's 50 day moving average is $246.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.87.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Progressive will post 14.5 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related 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 value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company'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 of the company's stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,239,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,833 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. 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.