Bank of America Lowers Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $318.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target reduced by Bank of America from $333.00 to $318.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PGR. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.59.

Progressive Stock Up 0.2 %

Progressive stock opened at $277.52 on Monday. Progressive has a twelve month low of $197.77 and a twelve month high of $287.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $256.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.50. The firm has a market cap of $162.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 forecast that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.