Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $265.49 and last traded at $265.15, with a volume of 19628 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $263.44.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PGR. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $269.81.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $155.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $253.06 and its 200-day moving average is $231.63.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at $119,475,967. The trade was a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. This represents a 13.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $220,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.1% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 88.7% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,626 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 3,585 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 138.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 10,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,071,000 after buying an additional 5,813 shares in the last quarter. 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.