Progressive Moving Forward

Sandler O'Neill upgraded the auto insurer, saying it sees earnings upside.

WE ARE UPGRADING Progressive (ticker: PGR) to Buy from Hold and raising our price target to $20 from $16 following the release of April operating earnings of 17 cents per share compared with our 11 cents estimate, largely due to better-than-expected underwriting results of six cents per share due to lower losses and loss adjustment expense (LAE) (four cents per share after tax) and lower expenses (two cents per share).

We are raising both our 2009 and 2010 earnings-per-share estimates to $1.60 from $1.30. Consensus is expecting $1.48 in 2009 and $1.41 in 2010. Book value rose to $6.70 from $6.32 in March...

Barrons: Progressive Moving Forward