Morgan Stanley Boosts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $247.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $228.00 to $247.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $264.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $196.56.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $203.90 on Thursday. Progressive has a 1 year low of $111.41 and a 1 year high of $212.24. The firm has a market cap of $119.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.90.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Analysts expect that Progressive will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.08%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,629 shares of company stock valued at $8,348,176 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 143.6% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.