ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $48.06 Million Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 211,047 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,026 shares during the period. Progressive makes up about 1.7% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $48,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in Progressive during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 833.3% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 168 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $196.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $203.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.38. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $192.02 and a 1 year high of $289.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 12.90%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.37 EPS. Analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.08%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total transaction of $336,973.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 39,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,097,573.10. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total transaction of $460,111.30. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,687 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,044. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Progressive from $217.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $237.50.

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.