Bank of America Cuts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $308.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price reduced by Bank of America from $313.00 to $308.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Progressive from $217.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays set a $247.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.05.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $207.73 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $208.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.50. The company has a market capitalization of $121.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.26. Progressive has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $254.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Progressive will post 17.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total value of $236,907.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,511 shares in the company, valued at $5,633,152.36. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 15,230 shares of company stock valued at $3,165,817 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Revisor Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 7,463 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,267,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Progressive News

Here are the key news stories impacting Progressive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reuters reported that Progressive’s quarterly profit rose on higher auto insurance demand, reinforcing the view that core underwriting and pricing trends remain healthy. Progressive’s quarterly profit rises on higher auto insurance demand
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary remains constructive after Q2, noting that Progressive continues to grow policies and remains a leading property and casualty insurer, which may help investor confidence. Progressive Is The P&C Insurer To Hold, After Policies Grow In Q2
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target to $308 and kept a buy rating, signaling optimism even though the target was trimmed slightly from prior levels. Progressive Given New $308.00 Price Target at Bank of America
• Neutral Sentiment: Other analysts also reduced their forecasts after the mixed Q2 report, but several still view the shares as fairly valued to modestly attractive from current levels. Progressive Analysts Slash Their Forecasts After Q2 Results
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets cut its price target to $205 and kept a market perform rating, reflecting a more cautious stance following the earnings release. BMO Capital Markets price target cut
• Negative Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods also lowered its target to $226 and maintained a market perform rating, adding to the post-earnings analyst headwinds. KBW price target cut

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.