Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Raised to $247.00 at Morgan Stanley

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $228.00 to $247.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Progressive from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $144.00 to $176.00 in a research note on Monday, December 18th. HSBC boosted their target price on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Progressive from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $202.00.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $203.90 on Thursday. Progressive has a 12-month low of $111.41 and a 12-month high of $212.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.13. The company has a market capitalization of $119.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 6.28%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Progressive will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 5,939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $1,005,116.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,821,329.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 5,939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $1,005,116.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,821,329.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $93,251.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,725,350.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,629 shares of company stock valued at $8,348,176 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Balentine LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 22,162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,530,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. 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 in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Progressive by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Progressive by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,438 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.