Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Downgraded by Hsbc Global Res to “Hold”

Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

PGR has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.69.

Progressive Stock Down 0.2 %

Progressive stock opened at $247.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $144.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. Progressive has a 52-week low of $149.14 and a 52-week high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $254.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.83.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its 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 business had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Equities analysts predict that Progressive will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total value of $1,964,096.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,876,384.69. This trade represents a 33.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,839 shares of company stock valued at $6,718,965 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 119.6% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. 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.