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Mayfield Village, Ohio-based The Progressive Corporation (PGR) provides auto, property, business-related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services. With a market cap of $167 billion, Progressive operates through Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property segments.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as "large-cap stocks." Progressive fits this bill perfectly. Given that the company operates as one of the largest motor insurance carriers in the U.S., its valuation above this mark is not surprising. Moreover, it is the market leader in commercial auto insurance and one of the top 15 homeowners carriers, based on premiums written.
PGR currently trades 1.5% below its all-time high of $292.99 recorded on Mar. 17. PGR’s stock has gained 2.4% in the past three months, surpassing the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) marginal decrease.
In the longer term, PGR has surged 20.5% on a YTD basis, whereas SPX rose marginally. Moreover, shares of the insurance giant soared 36.7% over the past 52 weeks, notably outperforming the SPX's 12.5% rise over the same time frame.
The stock has traded above its 200-day moving average since last year and mostly above its 50-day moving average since early February, with some fluctuations, underscoring its bullish trend.
PGR shares declined marginally following the release of its mixed Q1 earnings on Apr. 16. The company’s total revenues increased by a robust 18.6% year-over-year to $20.4 billion and surpassed the Wall Street estimates, primarily driven by a solid year-over-year increase in its net premiums written. Moreover, the company’s net income rose 13% from the prior year’s quarter to $2.6 billion. However, despite recording a notable growth in earnings, its adjusted EPS of $4.65 failed to surpass the consensus estimates.
Its rival, Chubb Limited (CB), has performed worse than the stock. CB stock has grown 8.6% on a YTD basis and 10.8% over the past year, significantly underperforming PGR.
Among the 21 analysts covering the PGR stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” Its mean price target of $302.22 suggests a modest 4.7% upside potential from current price levels.
