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

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $275.52 and last traded at $272.91, with a volume of 3951764 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $266.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.12.

Progressive Stock Up 2.5 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $247.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $249.74. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $159.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. United Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. American Trust grew its position in shares of Progressive by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. American Trust now owns 4,559 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 36,842 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,016 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 837,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $200,773,000 after buying an additional 21,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Progressive by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 5,318 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.