Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Raised to $285.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by UBS Group from $275.00 to $285.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the insurance provider's stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. HSBC lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $281.76.

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Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:PGR traded up $4.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $283.87. 2,223,359 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,388,837. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. 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 one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $287.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.03.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Sell-side analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the business's 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 $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 189,638 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after purchasing an additional 170,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $1,843,045,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

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.