Barclays Raises Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $285.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Barclays from $264.00 to $285.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.40% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.76.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $283.87 on Thursday. Progressive has a twelve month low of $199.57 and a twelve month high of $287.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $166.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $258.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.97.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. This trade represents a 23.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Progressive by 2,262.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.