BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) had its price target boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $282.00 to $288.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the insurance provider's stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $289.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.76.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR traded down $9.68 on Thursday, hitting $265.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,648,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,636,730. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $273.91 and a 200-day moving average of $257.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. Progressive has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $142,324.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $969,024.07. This represents a 12.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.0% in the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group grew its stake in Progressive by 1.1% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.