Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was upgraded by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $250.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $226.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price points to a potential upside of 15.06% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.37.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $217.28 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.46. Progressive has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $254.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Progressive will post 17.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $7,942,165.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 522,776 shares in the company, valued at $111,199,682.96. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in Progressive by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,267,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $981,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.