The Goldman Sachs Group Boosts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $216.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $161.00 to $216.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Progressive from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. They issued a hold rating and a $164.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Progressive from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the stock from $144.00 to $176.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $184.50.

Progressive Stock Up 0.7 %

PGR opened at $206.15 on Monday. Progressive has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $207.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $188.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.00. The firm has a market cap of $120.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $16.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.10 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 21.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 9.82 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 12.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $93,251.24. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,725,350.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $93,251.24. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,725,350.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 13,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.26, for a total value of $2,127,228.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,570,485.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 58,949 shares of company stock valued at $10,671,740. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $908,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its position in Progressive by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 183,192 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,188,000 after acquiring an additional 19,284 shares in the last quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $964,000. Global Frontier Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Frontier Investments LLC now owns 182,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,988,000 after purchasing an additional 40,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $264,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by 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.