Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) had its price target upped by Bank of America from $289.00 to $297.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the insurance provider's stock.

PGR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.76.

Progressive Stock Down 3.5 %

PGR stock traded down $9.68 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $265.45. The company had a trading volume of 3,648,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,636,730. The company has a 50 day moving average of $273.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $257.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Progressive has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $142,324.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $969,024.07. The trade was a 12.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after buying an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after acquiring an additional 189,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Progressive by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,480,677,000 after purchasing an additional 710,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Progressive by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.