The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• The Progressive Corporation has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from analysts, with twelve rating the stock as such and seven assigning a "Buy" recommendation.
• Insider activity includes CEO Susan Patricia Griffith selling 30,659 shares at an average price of $246.06, indicating a 6.05% decrease in her holdings.
• Progressive has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for October 2nd, marking a yield of 0.2%.

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $279.6250.

A number of research firms have issued reports on PGR. BMO Capital Markets set a $252.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $265.00 price target (down from $327.00) on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, September 18th.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 130,045 shares of company stock valued at $31,997,390. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at about $306,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $439,000. Belmont Capital LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $580,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 87.9% in the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 414,183 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $117,218,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of PGR opened at $246.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Progressive has a one year low of $228.54 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $144.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 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.

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