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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Several other analysts also recently commented on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $269.81.

Progressive Stock Up 1.0 %

PGR stock opened at $266.04 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $253.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.52. Progressive has a 12 month low of $149.14 and a 12 month high of $266.18. The company has a market cap of $155.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Progressive will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total value of $1,964,096.16. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,876,384.69. This trade represents a 33.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at $119,475,967. This represents a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 84.3% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 9.5% in the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,856,000 after buying an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth $981,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 22.2% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,480,000 after buying an additional 5,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 88.7% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,626 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,577,000 after buying an additional 3,585 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.