StockNews.com Upgrades Progressive (NYSE:PGR) to Buy

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on PGR. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

Progressive Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE PGR opened at $273.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.01. Progressive has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, analysts predict that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,495 shares of company stock worth $16,668,034. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,833 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Progressive by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.