JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $303.00 to $275.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 28.34% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, William Blair downgraded Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.33.

Progressive Trading Up 0.9%

PGR stock traded up $1.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $214.27. 457,949 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,763,513. The company has a 50-day moving average of $222.92 and a 200-day moving average of $236.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. Progressive has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,323,176.42. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,034 shares of company stock valued at $2,047,481. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth $2,156,939,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Progressive by 78.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Progressive by 32.8% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,928,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709,417 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Progressive by 26.1% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 2,012.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 767,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,546,000 after purchasing an additional 731,207 shares during the period. 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.