Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Hits New 1-Year High at $207.94

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $207.94 and last traded at $207.62, with a volume of 91268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $206.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.50.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $188.82 and its 200 day moving average is $167.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $16.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.10 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 6.28%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 9.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 12.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 13,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.26, for a total transaction of $2,127,228.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 465,737 shares in the company, valued at $75,570,485.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.26, for a total transaction of $196,334.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,098.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 13,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.26, for a total value of $2,127,228.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,570,485.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,949 shares of company stock worth $10,671,740 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Balentine LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 22,162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,530,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 7,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 10.2% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,438 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.