In a report released yesterday, Randy Binner from B.Riley FBR maintained a Hold rating on Progressive (NYSE: PGR), with a price target of $68. The company’s shares opened today at $64.49, close to its 52-week high of $65.10.
Binner noted:
“On August 15, PGR reported July operating EPS of $0.54 versus our estimate of $0.35. Top- line growth was higher than our forecast. Net premiums written (NPW) growth was +21.3% Y/ Y versus our +10.0% estimate. The reported underlying loss ratio (ex-cat and PYD) came in at 69.3% in July, below our 70.1% estimate. PGR did not report any cat losses compared to our $58M estimate, and favorable prior year development (PYD) of $20.0M was better than our forecast of no reserve development. The expense ratio was lower at 20.1% versus our 20.7% estimate as the company continues to make progress on its expense saving initiatives. Net Investment income came in higher at $66M versus our $61M estimate. Taxes were favorable due to a ~$10M benefit related to employee compensation.”
According to TipRanks.com, Binner is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 15.9% and a 69.2% success rate. Binner covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as American Equity Investment Life, Health Insurance Innovations, and Brighthouse Financial Inc.
Currently, the analyst consensus on Progressive is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $65.90, which is a 2.2% upside from current levels. In a report released yesterday, Wells Fargo also maintained a Hold rating on the stock with a $64 price target.
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Based on Progressive’s latest earnings release for the quarter ending June 30, the company reported a quarterly net profit of $704 million. In comparison, last year the company had a net profit of $368 million.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 88 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock.
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Progressive Corp. is an insurance holding company, which engages in the provision of personal and commercial auto insurance, residential property insurance, and other specialty property-casualty insurance and related services. It operates through the following segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, Property, and Other Indemnity.
