Westpac Banking Corp Buys Shares of 6,761 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 6,761 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,477,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its position in Progressive by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in Progressive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,267,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $769,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,370,900. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $7,942,165.98. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 522,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,199,682.96. This represents a 6.67% 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 82,224 shares of company stock worth $17,416,438 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $219.45 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $252.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.64. 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 company has a market cap of $127.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.05.

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.