How to buy Progressive shares

The Progressive Corporation is an insurance-property & casualty business with stocks listed in the US. Progressive shares (PGR) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Its last market close was US$87.11 – an increase of 0.06% over the previous week. Here's how to invest if you're based in Australia.

How to buy shares in Progressive

1. Compare share trading platforms. To buy shares in a US company from Australia you'll need to find a trading platform that offers access to US stock markets. If you're just starting out, look for a platform with low brokerage and foreign exchange fees.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Progressive. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: PGR. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Progressive reaches your desired price. To spread out your risk, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of US$87.11, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Progressive, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Progressive. Optimise your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

Progressive share price

Use our graph to track the performance of PGR stocks over time.

Progressive shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2021-04-09.

52-week range	US$67.7058 - US$97.1977
50-day moving average	US$91.3947
200-day moving average	US$92.9275
Target price	US$99.19
PE ratio	9.8323
Dividend yield	US$4.9 (5.11%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	US$9.66

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The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no indication of future results.

Is it a good time to buy Progressive stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of The Progressive Corporation by TradingView

Progressive price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the last close of $87.11

1 week (2021-04-06)	-8.72%
1 month (2021-03-16)	-6.70%

Is Progressive under- or over-valued?

Valuing Progressive stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Progressive's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Progressive's P/E ratio

Progressive's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 10x. In other words, Progressive shares trade at around 10x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Progressive's PEG ratio

Progressive's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 23.2187. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Progressive's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Progressive's EBITDA

Progressive's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is US$7.7 billion (£5.6 billion).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Progressive's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Progressive financials

Revenue TTM	US$42.6 billion
Operating margin TTM	17.33%
Gross profit TTM	US$8.7 billion
Return on assets TTM	7.76%
Return on equity TTM	36.88%
Profit margin	13.38%
Book value	28.272
Market capitalisation	US$55.6 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Progressive shares

There are currently 6.0 million Progressive shares held short by investors – that's known as Progressive's "short interest". This figure is 12.4% up from 5.3 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Progressive shares can be evaluated.

Progressive's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Progressive's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Progressive shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Progressive shares traded daily (recently around 3.1 million). Progressive's SIR currently stands at 1.91. In other words for every 100,000 Progressive shares traded daily on the market, roughly 1910 shares are currently held short.

However Progressive's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Progressive shares, or, against the total number of tradable Progressive shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Progressive's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Progressive shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0103% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Progressive shares, roughly 10 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Progressive.

Find out more about how you can short Progressive stock.

Progressive's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Progressive.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Progressive's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 31.91

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Progressive's overall score of 31.91 (as at 12/31/2018) is nothing to write home about – landing it in it in the 43rd percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Progressive is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Progressive's environmental score

Environmental score: 7.06/100

Progressive's environmental score of 7.06 puts it squarely in the 8th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Progressive is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Progressive's social score

Social score: 13.28/100

Progressive's social score of 13.28 puts it squarely in the 8th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Progressive is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Progressive's governance score

Governance score: 17.57/100

Progressive's governance score puts it squarely in the 8th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Progressive is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Progressive's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Progressive scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Progressive has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

The Progressive Corporation was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	31.91
Total ESG percentile	43.32
Environmental score	7.06
Environmental score percentile	8
Social score	13.28
Social score percentile	8
Governance score	17.57
Governance score percentile	8
Level of controversy	2

Progressive share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 65.29% of net profits

Recently Progressive has paid out, on average, around 65.29% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 0.42% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Progressive shareholders could enjoy a 0.42% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Progressive's case, that would currently equate to about $4.9 per share.

Progressive's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

Progressive's most recent dividend payout was on 14 April 2021. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 5 April 2021 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Progressive's shares ever split?

Progressive's shares were split on 26 January 2014.

Progressive share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Progressive's shares have ranged in value from as little as US$67.7058 up to US$97.1977. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Progressive's is 0.4677. This would suggest that Progressive's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Progressive overview

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, 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. The Personal Lines segment writes insurance for personal autos and recreational vehicles (RV). This segment's products include personal auto insurance; and special lines products, including insurance for motorcycles, ATVs, RVs, watercrafts, snowmobiles, and related products. The Commercial Lines segment provides auto-related primary liability and physical damage insurance, and business-related general liability and property insurance for autos, vans, pick-up trucks, and dump trucks used by small businesses; tractors, trailers, and straight trucks primarily used by regional general freight and expeditor-type businesses, and long-haul operators; dump trucks, log trucks, and garbage trucks used by dirt, sand and gravel, logging, and coal-type businesses; and tow trucks and wreckers used in towing services and gas/service station businesses; as well as non-fleet and airport taxis, and black-car services. The Property segment writes residential property insurance for homes, condos, manufactured homes, and renters, as well as offers personal umbrella insurance, and primary and excess flood insurance. The company also offers policy issuance and claims adjusting services; and acts as an agent to place business owner's policies, general and professional liability, and workers' compensation insurance. In addition, it provides reinsurance services. The company sells its products through independent insurance agencies, as well as directly on Internet through mobile devices, and over the phone. The Progressive Corporation was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Mayfield, Ohio.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Progressive is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.302% of Progressive shares are held by insiders and 83.948% by institutions.

• When does the fiscal year end for Progressive?

  Progressive's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Progressive based?

  Progressive's address is: 6300 Wilson Mills Road, Mayfield, OH, United States, 44143

• What is Progressive's ISIN number?

  Progressive's international securities identification number is: US7433151039

• What is Progressive's CUSIP number?

  Progressive's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 743315103