Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Increases Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 14.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 314,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,203 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 0.05% of Progressive worth $83,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 87,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $306,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP grew its position in shares of Progressive by 199.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 9,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,511,000 after buying an additional 6,263 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $13,583,000. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth $647,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $225.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $132.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $231.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.59.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,194,933.16. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $295,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,389,460. This represents a 4.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 51,782 shares of company stock valued at $12,708,788 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Progressive from $312.00 to $301.38 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $350.00 to $351.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $266.46.

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.