UBS Group Boosts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $218.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price increased by UBS Group from $216.00 to $218.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $211.88.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $214.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $125.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $199.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Progressive has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $215.18.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Giverny Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 501,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $69,849,000 after purchasing an additional 14,022 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in Progressive by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 155,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $21,651,000 after purchasing an additional 7,268 shares during the period. Invesco LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Strs Ohio boosted its stake in Progressive by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,788,000 after purchasing an additional 4,983 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $295,000. 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.