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

Progressive (NYSE:PGRFree Report) had its price objective boosted by UBS Group from $275.00 to $285.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.76.

Read Our Latest Report on Progressive

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $283.87 on Friday. 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 has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $287.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.07. The firm has a market cap of $166.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGRGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts forecast that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Progressive (NYSE:PGR)

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