Bank of America Cuts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $308.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target lowered by research analysts at Bank of America from $315.00 to $308.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 49.01% from the stock’s current price.

PGR has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Argus raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $243.28.

Progressive Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $206.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $121.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.19 and a beta of 0.33. Progressive has a 52-week low of $197.92 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $208.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $150,201.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 12,761 shares of company stock worth $2,659,420 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Progressive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/idea piece highlights Progressive’s competitive advantages — data-driven underwriting, market share gains and a long-term dividend/special-dividend track record that one writer argues creates an asymmetric, high-conviction income case for PGR. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Board declared a routine quarterly common dividend of $0.10 per share (record April 2, payable April 10) — a small regular payout (annualized ~$0.40) that is unlikely to materially move fundamentals but is relevant for income-focused holders. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent market coverage remains mixed: some firms trimmed targets or ratings while others remain constructive, leaving a consensus near a hold and a mid/high-two-hundreds price target — this creates uneven analyst signals for traders. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Chief Accounting Officer Carl Joyce sold 141 shares and senior executive Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares (both reported at ~ $212/share). Significant insider sales can spook investors even if sales are routine or for personal reasons. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Technical/price signals and analyst pressure — the stock is trading below recent short- and long-term moving averages and faced recent price-target cuts/underweight calls from some firms, contributing to downward momentum. Read More.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.