PGR's Personal Auto Business Exhibits Strength: Will it Fuel Profits?

The Progressive Corporation PGR is seen as a leader in product, service and distribution innovation, especially in personal auto. The Personal Auto segment, part of its larger Personal Lines division, primarily focuses on providing auto insurance for private vehicles. In fact, Progressive's business mix is heavily weighted toward personal auto, both in the direct and agency channels. 

Contributing about 90% to Personal Lines net premiums written and 75% of total company premiums, personal auto’s performance has a significant impact on PGR’s profitability.  Rate increase,  higher new personal auto applications, driven by higher advertising spend, an increase in non-rate actions to drive growth and a strong independent agents' network continue to drive the performance of Personal Auto. Lower accident frequency and stable severity trends add to the upside. 

Progressive’s Personal Auto segment is poised to grow, given its leadership skill in underwriting technology and the application of quantitative analytics in pricing and risk selection. PGR’s rates are very competitive in all its markets.  This gives PGR a competitive edge in dealing with inflationary cost pressure, adjusting rates more swiftly than peers and maintaining underwriting profitability.  While telematics, real-time data, and machine learning help PGR to underwrite prudently, Snapshot and usage-based insurance are helping it to cater to changing consumer preferences. Progressive thus has the potential to attract low-risk drivers while aptly price higher-risk ones, supporting both top-line growth and margin expansion.

The Personal Auto segment thus remains a long-term growth driver for Progressive, with the potential to push up both premium volume and profitability.

How are PGR’s Competitors Faring?

The personal auto businesses of The Allstate Corporation ALL and The Travelers Companies Inc. TRV are instrumental in driving the long-term growth of these auto insurers. 

Personal auto at Allstate is poised to grow as its expanded product offerings, strong brand recognition and prudent underwriting aid premiums. Coupled with effective cost management, profitability is improving.

Better pricing leverage data and technology, improved underwriting margins, and favorable loss experience due to fewer claims and lower severity should drive the personal auto business at Travelers.

PGR’s Price Performance

Shares of PGR have gained 10.9% year to date, outperforming the industry.

PGR’s Expensive Valuation

PGR trades at a price-to-book value ratio of 5.49, above the industry average of 1.57. It carries a Value Score of C.

Estimates for PGR Witness Northward Movement

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PGR’s second-quarter and third-quarter 2025 EPS has moved up 12% and 1.4%, respectively, over the past 30 days. The same for full-year 2025 and 2026 has increased 2.5% and 1%, respectively.

The consensus estimates for PGR’s 2025 and 2026 revenues and EPS indicate year-over-year increases. 

PGR stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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