Progressive’s (PGR) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets reissued their outperform rating on shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $235.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $216.81.

Progressive Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $208.24 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $121.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $209.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.85. Progressive has a 12-month low of $111.41 and a 12-month high of $217.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 11.58 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total value of $1,525,567.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,357,996.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,818 shares of company stock worth $4,280,482. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. American Trust bought a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth $1,082,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 5.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 703,819 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $144,451,000 after acquiring an additional 37,063 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Progressive by 4.8% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 200,683 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,504,000 after acquiring an additional 9,130 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 59.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 18,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,738,000 after acquiring an additional 6,752 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Progressive by 259.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 67,074 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,872,000 after purchasing an additional 48,397 shares during the period. 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.