Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Receives Market Perform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market perform" rating reissued by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $288.00 price objective on the insurance provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.49% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $289.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.76.

Progressive Stock Down 3.5 %

Progressive stock traded down $9.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $265.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,648,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,636,730. 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 fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $273.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a PE 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 data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 268,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,463,329.23. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 1.0% in the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 2.0% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 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.