Westerkirk Capital Inc. Buys New Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 10,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,414,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Progressive by 78.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Progressive by 26.1% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $353,906,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $185,761,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $231,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,733,600. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355 over the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $200.33 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $189.20 and a twelve month high of $278.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $198.84 and its 200-day moving average is $208.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Progressive Company 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.