Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective cut by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $295.00 to $294.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price indicates a potential upside of 24.80% from the company’s previous close.

PGR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.24.

Progressive Trading Down 3.3 %

NYSE PGR opened at $235.57 on Friday. Progressive has a twelve month low of $164.98 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $251.34 and its 200 day moving average is $241.37.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at $36,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.