The Progressive Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.10 (NYSE:PGR)

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 10th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.10 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, July 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd.

Progressive has a dividend payout ratio of 3.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Progressive to earn $12.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 3.3%.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $207.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $121.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.35. Progressive has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $217.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $209.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.84.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total transaction of $1,525,567.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,357,996.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,518 shares of company stock valued at $5,055,674. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on Progressive from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $216.81.

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.