Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $261.00 to $264.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.12.

Progressive Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $267.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.42. Progressive has a 1-year low of $186.94 and a 1-year high of $270.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $246.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.49. 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 (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % 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 Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 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.