Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $275.52 and last traded at $272.91, with a volume of 3951764 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $266.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.12.

Progressive Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.74. The firm has a market cap of $159.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Progressive by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Progressive by 2,262.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $103,990,000 after buying an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.