Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Raised to “Outperform” at Raymond James

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was upgraded by stock analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $305.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock. Raymond James’ price target points to a potential upside of 26.55% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on PGR. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.65.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $241.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $141.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $252.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.87. Progressive has a 1 year low of $157.61 and a 1 year high of $270.62. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. On average, research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. SMART Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the third quarter valued at approximately $295,000. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $458,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,253,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Progressive by 6.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 65.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 72,163 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,312,000 after buying an additional 28,636 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Company Profile

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.