Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Progressive Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $250.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $146.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $245.61 and a 200 day moving average of $245.36. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $180.72 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.