Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $270.62 and last traded at $266.86, with a volume of 2862426 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $268.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

Progressive Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $156.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.72.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at $119,475,967. This trade represents a 8.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total transaction of $1,964,096.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,876,384.69. This trade represents a 33.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after acquiring an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,325,000 after acquiring an additional 594,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $222,207,000 after acquiring an additional 590,235 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.