Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Raised to $256.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $251.00 to $256.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on PGR. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.94.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $242.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $240.29. Progressive has a twelve month low of $161.56 and a twelve month high of $270.62. 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 (NYSE:PGR) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. Equities analysts forecast that Progressive will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,981 shares of company stock valued at $5,816,178. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in Progressive during the third quarter worth about $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Sachetta LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Progressive during the third quarter worth $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.