Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Shares Up 4% – Here’s Why

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)’s stock price traded up 4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $253.17 and last traded at $252.53. 936,843 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 2,473,709 shares. The stock had previously closed at $242.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.69.

Progressive Trading Up 3.7 %

The company has a market cap of $147.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,839 shares of company stock valued at $6,718,965 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in Progressive by 119.6% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.