Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

PGR has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.56.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR traded down $1.63 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $259.89. The company had a trading volume of 2,036,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,471,619. Progressive has a 1-year low of $149.14 and a 1-year high of $263.85. The company has a market cap of $152.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $251.41 and a 200-day moving average of $228.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Progressive will post 13.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 9,512 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.50, for a total transaction of $2,259,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,874,412.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 9,512 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.50, for a total value of $2,259,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 45,787 shares in the company, valued at $10,874,412.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,843 shares of company stock worth $18,674,912. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 391,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $99,290,000 after purchasing an additional 66,628 shares during the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 1,363 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 413,293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $104,877,000 after acquiring an additional 25,838 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 36,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,288,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 14,381 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,421 shares in the last quarter. 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.