Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Boosts Position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 47.1%, acquiring an additional 88,201 shares, bringing its total holdings to 275,535 shares valued at approximately $77.98 million.
• Progressive reported $4.88 EPS in its latest earnings report, beating analysts' expectations of $4.43, with revenue of $20.08 billion, up 12.1% year-over-year.
• The company declared a $0.10 dividend on July 11th, yielding 15.0%, with an ongoing dividend payout ratio of 2.25%.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 47.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 275,535 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 88,201 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $77,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Renasant Bank raised its holdings in Progressive by 37.5% in the first quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 2,488 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Associated Banc Corp purchased a new position in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $214,000. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. purchased a new position in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $479,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 12.5% in the first quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 271,856 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $76,938,000 after buying an additional 30,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advyzon Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 9.7% during the first quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,832,701.76. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,191 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $795,324.84. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 37,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,465,387.48. The trade was a 7.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock valued at $26,332,348 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI cut shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.88.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $4.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $247.47. 2,620,778 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,698,092. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business's fifty day moving average is $258.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.15. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $213.47 and a one year high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $145.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. Progressive's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 15.0%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

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.