Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Increases Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $300.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $294.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the insurance provider's stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR traded up $1.21 on Thursday, hitting $274.07. 2,553,247 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,433,886. Progressive has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $262.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $255.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $160.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Progressive by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Progressive by 2,262.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $103,990,000 after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.