Hsbc Global Res Downgrades Progressive (NYSE:PGR) to Hold

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Hsbc Global Res from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

PGR has been the topic of a number of other reports. HSBC set a $259.00 price objective on Progressive and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Mizuho set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $259.39.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6%

Progressive stock opened at $202.35 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $222.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $118.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.34. Progressive has a twelve month low of $199.90 and a twelve month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at $6,323,176.42. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 4.2% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC raised its position in Progressive by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Progressive by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 256 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.