Progressive (NYSE:PGR) PT Raised to $245.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $241.00 to $245.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on PGR. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $264.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $211.88.

Progressive Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $209.75 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $199.28 and a 200 day moving average of $174.57. Progressive has a 52 week low of $111.41 and a 52 week high of $212.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Progressive will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 483 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 41.2% during the 1st quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 4,764 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390 shares during the period. Financial Strategies Group Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 26,929 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,515,000 after acquiring an additional 3,205 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 67.4% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,045 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.