Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $328.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $324.00 to $328.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.65.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $284.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $166.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $275.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $260.28. Progressive has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,922.70. This represents a 23.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 210.0% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.