The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Receives $239.22 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $239.2222.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Progressive from $232.00 to $208.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,649 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total value of $336,973.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,626 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,573.10. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 11,687 shares of company stock worth $2,413,044 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Progressive by 30.2% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,381,000 after acquiring an additional 23,833 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 1,614.1% during the third quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 21,598 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,334,000 after purchasing an additional 20,338 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 91.7% during the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,710 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,892,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 40.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 16,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,865 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 471.3% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 22,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,556,000 after purchasing an additional 18,558 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of PGR opened at $200.98 on Friday. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $197.92 and a fifty-two week high of $289.96. The company has a market capitalization of $117.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $205.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $218.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.08%.

Progressive Company Profile

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.