Barclays Maintains Price Target as Progressive Surpasses Profit Expectations
The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) has been recognized as one of the best "set-it-and-forget-it" stocks to buy. On June 18, Barclays reaffirmed its Equalweight rating and set a price target of $297 for Progressive after the company reported a net EPS of $1.81 for May, significantly exceeding Barclays’ forecast of $1.22.
This impressive earnings performance was attributed to effective expense management, with a company-wide expense ratio of 18.8%, outperforming the anticipated 20.9%. Additionally, strong underwriting results led to a loss ratio of 68.2%, better than the expected 69.8%.
Despite estimating disaster losses at $275 million—slightly above the $233 million forecast—Progressive benefited from $91 million in favorable prior-year development. The underlying combined ratio stood at 84.2%, which is 310 basis points lower than predicted.
As a leading insurance holding company in the United States, Progressive offers a range of insurance products, including residential property insurance and commercial and personal auto insurance.
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