Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Raised to $300.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $294.00 to $300.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $273.08 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $261.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Progressive has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $160.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $479,391.36. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 26,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,546,174.02. The trade was a 5.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,495 shares of company stock worth $16,668,034 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. AMG National Trust Bank bought a new position in Progressive during the third quarter valued at about $203,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3.1% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 29.8% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,867,000 after purchasing an additional 3,498 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the third quarter valued at about $163,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 168.9% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,848 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company Profile

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.