ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 213,942 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,914 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for about 1.8% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $34,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Ion Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 7,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 10.2% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its stake in Progressive by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,727 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR traded up $4.94 on Friday, hitting $214.69. 4,190,337 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,618,959. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $199.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.10. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $215.18. The firm has a market cap of $125.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.