Westpac Banking Corp Invests $1.48 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp acquired 6,761 Progressive shares worth approximately $1.48 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of Progressive’s stock.
• Progressive reported quarterly earnings of $5.67 per share, beating estimates of $4.64, while revenue rose 5% year over year to $23.61 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, equivalent to a 0.2% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $236.05.

Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,761 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,477,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 235.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $219.45 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $252.82.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $240.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Progressive from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $236.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total transaction of $1,727,974.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,782,595.70. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total value of $1,535,979.31. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 82,224 shares of company stock worth $17,416,438. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive 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.

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