Barclays Lowers Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $261.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Barclays from $277.00 to $261.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 7.79% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.00.

Progressive Trading Up 1.1 %

PGR opened at $242.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. Progressive has a one year low of $162.35 and a one year high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $251.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.94.

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

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Sachetta LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.