Progressive leads S&P 500 stocks after impressive July performance

Shares of Progressive Corp. (NYSE:) climbed Wednesday morning after it reported strong July results. The stock surged by as much as 9% after results were published, making it the top gainer in the index.

Progressive reported July net premiums written of $5.95 billion, an increase of 21% compared to last year. Total policies in force increased by 11% and combined ratio, a measure of profitability, was 90.6, up 0.8 points from last year.

Commenting on the company’s performance, analysts from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said, “We expect the broad outperformance to drive the shares up today … PGR’s July operating EPS of $0.90 solidly beat our projected $0.41, reflecting outperformance in every combined ratio component. Personal auto PIF growth was +14.0%, slightly below June’s +14.4%.”

Roth MKM analysts also commented on the stock, saying, “We believe the company easily beat all estimates for the month ..Underwriting results were excellent with a reported calendar year combined ratio of 90.8%, well below its target of 96%. After six months of unfavorable loss reserve development, July was a favorable $28.5 million.”

They added, “Total personal auto came in at 90.8% consisting of a loss ratio of 76.1% and an expense ratio of 14.7%. The loss ratio is still elevated to where the company likely aims for, but we think there is still plenty of higher rate business that has not been earned yet. Meanwhile, its expense ratio is below where it normally is with advertising expense, well below where it normally sits. However, year-over-year personal auto policies grew 14%.”

Progressive shares traded at $135.5. in the middle of its year-to-date range of $111.4 to $149.9.