Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.64 EPS

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64, Zacks reports. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $246.25 on Thursday. Progressive has a 12 month low of $175.50 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $144.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $244.25.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,506 shares of company stock valued at $10,531,159. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.