Cantor Fitzgerald Cuts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $200.00

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Progressive’s price target from $220 to $200 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying 4.53% downside from the stock’s $209.48 opening price.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Progressive has a consensus “Hold” rating, with 15 Holds, five Buys and two Sells, and an average price target of $233.16.
• Progressive exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.67 in earnings per share versus the $4.64 consensus and $23.61 billion in revenue, up 5% year over year. Insiders sold about $15.9 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $220.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price objective suggests a potential downside of 4.53% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on PGR. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $236.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $233.16.

Progressive Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $209.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27. Progressive has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $254.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $214.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.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. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 17.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total transaction of $1,727,974.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,782,595.70. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $769,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at $9,370,900. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 74,885 shares of company stock worth $15,880,459 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $332,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $666,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,682,342,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $14,518,000. Finally, Berkley W R Corp bought a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth $45,348,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Company Profile

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.

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