Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Posts Earnings Results

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64, Zacks reports. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%.

Progressive Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $2.12 on Wednesday, reaching $247.17. 903,805 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,526,222. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $175.50 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $247.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.25.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,506 shares of company stock valued at $10,531,159 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.65.

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.