Bank of America Downgrades Progressive (NYSE:PGR) to Neutral

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $287.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $300.00. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential upside of 11.56% from the company’s current price.

PGR has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price target on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.29.

Progressive Stock Down 10.4 %

PGR stock opened at $257.27 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $256.74. The company has a market cap of $150.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total transaction of $2,759,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently 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.