Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Raised to $243.00 at Mizuho

Key Points

• Mizuho raised its price target on Progressive from $217 to $243 while keeping a neutral rating, implying about 5.59% upside from the prior close.
• Other analysts remain mixed on the stock: recent targets range from Morgan Stanley’s $190 underweight call to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ $231 market perform view, with the overall consensus still at Hold and an average target of $237.53.
• Progressive recently reported Q1 earnings of $4.80 per share, topping estimates, though revenue of $22.19 billion came in below expectations; the company also saw insider share sales and continued heavy institutional ownership.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Mizuho from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Mizuho's price target suggests a potential upside of 5.59% from the stock's previous close.

PGR has been the topic of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Progressive from $210.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Evercore reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $237.53.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $230.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $205.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.70. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $254.93. The firm has a market cap of $134.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. Progressive's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Progressive will post 17.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total value of $236,907.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,633,152.36. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after buying an additional 593,612 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Progressive by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,373,474,000 after acquiring an additional 78,374 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Progressive by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,398,123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,527 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,375,706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,151 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,836,094,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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