Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Raised to $313.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $302.00 to $313.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Progressive from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $246.78 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $247.01 and a 200-day moving average of $244.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. Progressive has a 52-week low of $176.37 and a 52-week high of $270.62. The company has a market cap of $144.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 34.32% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 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 $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in Progressive by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 29,701.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after buying an additional 594,330 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 206.8% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,207,000 after buying an additional 590,235 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by 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.