The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $283.71.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $288.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 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 value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total transaction of $2,759,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at $71,199,142.56. This represents a 3.73 % 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. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE PGR traded down $2.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $275.96. 2,368,535 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,644,637. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $161.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $272.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $257.43.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Analysts predict that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

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.