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

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $241.00 to $245.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Progressive from $265.00 to $264.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen started coverage on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a market perform rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on Progressive from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

Progressive stock opened at $209.12 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $122.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.35. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $212.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Progressive will post 10.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 109.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 143.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% 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.