Analysts Set The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Target Price at $288.88

Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $288.88.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of the company's 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 now owns 41,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,750,829.82. This represents a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $329,901.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,191,955.98. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,572,448. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of Progressive by 498.5% during the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth about $3,141,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 36.4% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,893,000 after purchasing an additional 33,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 16.5% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 93,463 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,451,000 after buying an additional 13,231 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $2.13 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $261.80. 3,531,264 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,720,555. The company has a market capitalization of $153.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Progressive has a 52-week low of $204.88 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $274.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.55.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. Equities research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Company Profile

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.