The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $284.8235.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.96, for a total transaction of $1,557,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,402,135.52. This represents a 22.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,156,939,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,362,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,174,632 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 39,285.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $862,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,303 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,928,141,000 after acquiring an additional 2,709,417 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.9%

PGR stock traded up $2.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $248.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,635,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,182,185. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Progressive has a 1-year low of $228.54 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $246.91 and a 200 day moving average of $265.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

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.