Morgan Stanley Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Progressive (NYSE:PGR)

Progressive (NYSE:PGR)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by Morgan Stanley in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $310.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 23.11% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.69.

Progressive Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $251.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $253.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $236.78. The company has a market capitalization of $147.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.38. Progressive has a twelve month low of $149.14 and a twelve month high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. On average, equities analysts predict that Progressive will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $775,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,626,840. The trade was a 9.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total transaction of $1,964,096.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $3,876,384.69. This represents a 33.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,839 shares of company stock worth $6,718,965 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $458,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,253,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Progressive by 6.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 65.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 72,163 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $18,312,000 after acquiring an additional 28,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 270.5% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 11,833 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,003,000 after acquiring an additional 8,639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.