Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on PGR. Barclays reduced their price target on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Progressive from $291.00 to $280.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America cut their target price on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.63.

Progressive Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $0.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $246.48. 2,966,465 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,837,227. The stock has a market cap of $144.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.37. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $208.13 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $267.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $265.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total transaction of $1,041,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,750,829.82. This trade represents a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $329,901.46. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,191,955.98. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Progressive by 11.2% during the second quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital raised its position in Progressive by 44.1% during the second quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 2,044 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its position in Progressive by 3.0% during the second quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 14,766 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Progressive by 23.9% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 412,523 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $110,086,000 after purchasing an additional 79,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Precision Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in Progressive by 14.4% during the second quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,208 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

About Progressive

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.