In the latest trading session, Progressive (PGR) closed at $210.96, marking a +1.76% move from the previous day. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.2%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.04%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.04%.
Heading into today, shares of the insurer had lost 6.36% over the past month, lagging the Finance sector's loss of 4.84% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.35%.
The upcoming earnings release of Progressive will be of great interest to investors. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $4.27, signifying a 5.43% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $23.35 billion, up 5.11% from the prior-year quarter.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $17.93 per share and a revenue of $92.56 billion, representing changes of -1.75% and +6.46%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Progressive. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 1.03% upward. Currently, Progressive is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In the context of valuation, Progressive is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 11.56. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 10.6.
We can additionally observe that PGR currently boasts a PEG ratio of 2.65. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. Insurance - Property and Casualty stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.8 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Insurance - Property and Casualty industry is part of the Finance sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 62, this industry ranks in the top 26% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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The Progressive Corporation (PGR): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).