Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Trading 4% Higher – Still a Buy?

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) shot up 4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $253.17 and last traded at $252.53. 936,843 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 2,473,709 shares. The stock had previously closed at $242.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.69.

Progressive Stock Performance

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 $253.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.91%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $549,970.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. This trade 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 25,839 shares of company stock worth $6,718,965 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 20.9% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 16.5% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank grew its holdings in Progressive by 4.6% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 21.3% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.