Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Given New $294.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $295.00 to $294.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.24.

Progressive Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $235.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Progressive has a one year low of $164.98 and a one year high of $270.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $241.14.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. As a group, analysts expect that Progressive will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. State Street Corp increased its stake in Progressive by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,669,204,000 after acquiring an additional 170,618 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 7.0% in 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 worth $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Progressive by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,022,507,000 after acquiring an additional 92,212 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.