Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price raised by BMO Capital Markets from $282.00 to $288.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on PGR. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Progressive from $289.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.76.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $265.45 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $273.91 and a 200 day moving average of $257.86. Progressive has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, research analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.70%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $142,324.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $969,024.07. The trade was a 12.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $234,044.98. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,463,329.23. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lion Street Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.4% during the first quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 3,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 8,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.5% in the first quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 21,235 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,010,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Cushing Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at $318,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in Progressive by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 12,355 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,496,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. 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.