Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.64 EPS

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64, Zacks reports. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%.

Progressive Trading Up 1.3 %

Progressive stock traded up $3.31 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $248.36. 1,014,575 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,531,762. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $247.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $244.25. The company has a market capitalization of $145.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. Progressive has a 52-week low of $175.50 and a 52-week high of $270.62.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors 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 0.16%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,506 shares of company stock valued at $10,531,159 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $274.65.

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.

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