The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Receives $236.05 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $236.2632.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $228.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $226.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Evercore set a $240.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $236.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $217.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.27. Progressive has a twelve month low of $189.20 and a twelve month high of $249.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $216.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Progressive will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total value of $1,535,979.31. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at $8,908,847.43. The trade was a 14.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. 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 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Formuepleje A S raised its position in Progressive by 20.9% in the second quarter. Formuepleje A S now owns 27,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,024,000 after purchasing an additional 4,759 shares during the period. Giverny Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 542,292 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $118,464,000 after purchasing an additional 13,928 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Progressive by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,678,390 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $366,644,000 after buying an additional 115,968 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $106,822,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Progressive by 23,059.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 199,767,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,639,163,000 after buying an additional 198,904,705 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.