Westpac Banking Corp Decreases Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 64.1% during the first quarter, owning 4,904 shares after selling 8,767 shares, valued at approximately $1.39 million.
• A number of large investors have altered their positions in Progressive, with Highline Wealth Partners LLC and TruNorth Capital Management LLC increasing their holdings by 114.0% and 210.0%, respectively.
• Morgan Stanley and Wall Street Zen both downgraded their ratings on Progressive, suggesting a cautious outlook as the consensus price target is set at $283.94.

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 64.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,904 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 8,767 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Progressive were worth $1,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $265.00 target price on shares of Progressive and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $312.00 target price for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,191 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $795,324.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 37,977 shares in the company, valued at $9,465,387.48. This represents a 7.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total value of $1,509,141.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,742,703.04. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock worth $26,332,348. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $2.00 during trading on Thursday, reaching $251.19. 4,574,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,178,978. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $147.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.33. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $253.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $266.24.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

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.